


Fantastic Beasts and How to Ask Them Out

by hpwlwbb, nosignofwings, theatricalities, WhyTFNot



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon typical injuries, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Grief, Internal Monologue, Mutual Pining, Mystery at the Ministry, Post-War, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 31,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24507922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpwlwbb/pseuds/hpwlwbb, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nosignofwings/pseuds/nosignofwings, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatricalities/pseuds/theatricalities, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyTFNot/pseuds/WhyTFNot
Summary: Seven years after the battle of Hogwarts, life for its previous students has almost returned to normal. Cho is working and living above Flourish and Blotts, content to spend her days reading and reshelving books, and Luna is a traveling magizoologist content with spending her time getting to know magical animals instead of magical people. But when Hermione calls Luna back to London to help deal with a magical infestation at the ministry, Luna finds herself renting out Cho’s spare room. Old feelings resurface and suddenly neither girl finds herself content with her current situation, but instead finds herself wanting more.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Luna Lovegood, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil
Comments: 107
Kudos: 57
Collections: HP WLW BB 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the 2020 HPWLW Big Bang fest, which is an incredible event that I'm so thankful to be a part of! Thanks to the mods for all they do!
> 
> I absolutely could not have finished this story without my beta, @inamamagic, who was so wonderful and patient throughout this whole process. Thank you so much, you were brilliant to work with and helped make this story into a finished product. 
> 
> Also I am so lucky to have such amazing art for my story, by both @nosignofwings and @theatricalities. You are both such amazing artists and I was blown away by your talent throughout this project.
> 
>  **Artist:** [nosignofwings](https://twitter.com/nosignofwings) (tumblr)  
>  **Medium:** Digital Art  
>  **Artist's Notes:** N/A
> 
>  **Artist:** [32090810](https://32090810.tumblr.com/) (tumblr), [coralines](https://coralines.livejournal.com) (LJ), [coralines](https://coralines.dreamwidth.org) (DW)  
>  **Medium:** Digital Art  
>  **Artist's Notes:** This piece was a challenging one for me. I drew it several times, changing perspective and view, risking to lose myself in that grand chaos of books of Flourish and Blotts. In the end, I set for a close up view, finding it more intimate.  
> This was also my first time drawing Cho, hope I did her justice.

Cho ignored the wind as it whipped one of her braids into her face. She could hear Harry below her, urging on his Firebolt, which had really seen its best days when they were still in school. She struggled to remain focused, suppressing a laugh when she heard him call it “old girl.” She was matching his speed about five feet above him, the Snitch hovering under her, just out of both of their reach. 

Cho glanced down, making sure the Snitch was where she thought it was. Just as expected, Harry started to reach up to grab it. He caught her eye and smiled. 

She smiled back and watched his eyes widen in shock as she loosened her thighs around her broom, falling to the left until she hung upside down, her ankles crossed over the top of the shaft. His surprise, combined with the braid that smacked him directly between the eyes, gave her just enough time to grab the snitch hovering inches away from his own fingers. She used the rest of her momentum to swing upright, holding the snitch in the air long enough to hear Lee Jordan blow the whistle below them.

Cho’s feet hit the ground moments later, and she climbed off her broom much sweatier than when she had climbed on it. It was Ginny’s idea to start these pick up Quidditch games, even though technically, as a professional athlete she was barred from taking part in any unofficial practices or games in case of injury. But as she lovingly put it, rules were made for breaking, and soon Cho and most of her classmates were showing up for weekly matches at a makeshift pitch set up by Jordan a few miles from wizard London. They were better than they were as kids, despite the absence of regular practice, and it had become a hobby Cho found herself looking forward to. 

“That was fucking incredible,” Angelina Johnson cuffed her on the shoulder as Cho walked over to her bag to grab her water bottle. “I want you on my team next week.”

Cho laughed, quietly trying to catch her breath as she sipped her water bottle, letting Katie debate her girlfriend on who got her on their team next week. Despite being a long term couple, the two refused to be on the same team, swearing that a little healthy competition was the secret to their relationship’s longevity. 

“Seriously, Cho, good move.” Harry was beside her now, smiling good naturedly. “You’re quite the rival.”

Cho held back a snort. “You make it easy, Harry. You haven’t changed your tactic since McGonagall put you on the Gryffindor team.”

A loud bark of laughter floated up from behind his look of good natured betrayal. “You mean 'hover under it and reach up' isn’t cool any more?” Ginny, still laughing, came up behind her boyfriend, hand on his shoulder. “You’d think the auror who only knows ‘Stupefy’ would have more than one Quidditch trick up his sleeve.” Her words were sarcastic, but her smile was genuine as she pushed the sweaty hair off his forehead and planted a kiss on his cheek. 

Cho took a deep breath as she slipped her water bottle back into her bag, watching her friends quietly from the sidelines. Ron took off his keeper helmet, as Hermione argued with Lee about a ref call he made earlier, Alicia Spinnet backing her up. Ginny smacked George on the back of the head for sending bludgers her way the whole game like he didn’t know she had a professional match that weekend. Harry was speaking with Draco off to the side about work stuff from what Cho could hear, Marcus hanging just on the edge of their conversation, some school rivalries still present even after all these years. Angelina had her arm slung around Katie’s shoulders, Katie’s slender fingers playing with the hem of Angelina’s shirt as they spoke quietly, so casually intimate that it made Cho’s heart flutter. 

No, actually it made her heart hurt. She realized that out of everyone there she was the only one standing alone. Her eyes fell to her feet, and she zipped up her bag, turning back to her broom to fly home.

“Cho, wait!” Harry called out as she hopped back on the Nimbus 2000. She looked up and met his eyes. “A bunch of us were going to go to the Leaky Cauldron to grab drinks. Wanna come?”

“Oh…” She paused, grateful for the offer but still hesitant. Tonight, especially, she wasn’t sure she could handle an hour of cheerful small talk about work, and love lives, and families. Tonight, she thought, she needed to be alone. 

She tried to convince herself she wanted it, too. “I think I’ll just go home thanks.”

The length of her pause sparked recognition in Harry’s eyes, and she watched as he quickly counted back seven years, his expression growing darker. He closed the distance between them, pulling her into a tight hug for just a second. 

“If you need anything just call ok?” He pulled back, his sincere eyes meeting her own. “I forgot what today was,” he said softly, as if he needed an excuse for moving on, living his life, playing a pick up Quidditch game with his friends.

She nodded, as she kicked off the ground, hovering as she readjusted the straps of her bookbag. “Thanks.” She ignored his last comment, unsure why the responsibility fell to her to relieve him of his guilt.

“And seriously, great game.” Harry added. “He would have loved that move.”

Cho smirked in agreement. “Yeah I know.” Ignoring the knot forming at the bottom of her sternum she waved goodbye to her friends and started the flight home. She told herself she was content to spend the anniversary of Cedric’s death wrapped up in a recipe book, trying too hard not to feel so alone.

She winced, though, when for a brief moment she thought _I wish I had forgotten too._

***

Her feet touched down lightly on the roof Flourish and Blotts, the darkened streets of Diagon Alley below her. Cho watched as a few stumbling witches made their way out of a bar down the street. Careful to keep her balance, she pulled her wand free from her bookbag and unlocked the window to her above-shop apartment. She threw her book bag inside, and slipped in after it. She knew she looked like a burglar, but it was easier than having to spell through the anti-theft wards she’d put up for the bookstore after she’d closed earlier, just to get back to her bed. 

She re-locked the window, and then made her way to the bathroom, slipping off various pieces of clothing as she went. She yanked the hair ties out of her braids, her hair sweeping across her lower back as she turned the handle for the shower. Steam filled the room and she stepped in, hoping to wash away more than just the day’s Quidditch match. 

Her shower was quick, as she was never the kind of person who had learned to stand there idly, wasting time and water and thoughts amongst the steam. She toweled off, dressed, and padded her way to the kitchen, setting a pot on the stove to boil some rice. 

She magicked the water to a boil, getting tired of waiting for the stove to heat up, and poured the rice in, before she brought the water back down to a simmer. While it heated, she grabbed the dumplings she had made the night before and transferred them from the container to a plate before putting the plate in the microwave. 

She leaned back against her kitchen counter as she watched the water bubble and the plate spin. Magic was great, but some Muggle things were worth having.

When the rice was done she piled it onto her plate next to the dumplings, adding a healthy amount of soy sauce and took it to her couch. She had intended to turn on the tv, or the radio, or anything to drown out her thoughts, but they drowned out her intentions before she had the chance. 

Dumplings always made her think. Especially her mother’s recipe.

She remembered magically insulated packages arriving from home, filled with dumplings from her mom. Her mother had been raised in China, but had moved to Ireland after meeting Cho’s dad during school. She had told Cho over and over again when she was little that it was impossible to be lonely when you were eating dumplings. It was a few years before Cho realized that reminder was for her mother and not herself. 

But nonetheless, Cho never felt closer to her mom than when she was eating dumplings. It made her feel closer to a lot of other things too. She remembered how Cedric always made her bring some to potions class if he saw that tell tale red and gold package in the great hall. Their friendship had started in a potions class in the fall, with Cedric asking to be her partner for the lesson as soon as he saw she had snuck snacks into Snape’s classroom in her school bag. 

It had only strengthened from there, with Cedric stealing her food and Cho pretending she didn’t notice. He had helped her with flying tricks, and she’d correct his homework. He’d give her book recommendations, and she’d give them back with dissertation level explanations of her thoughts on the plot, the characters, the themes. They were close and really she couldn’t blame people for thinking that they were dating. 

But they hadn’t been. Rumors had started flying around fourth year, just silly rumors that at first, Cho hadn’t put any weight to. She didn’t like him like that, and he was sweet to her but he hadn’t made a move so she figured he didn’t like her like that either. 

The rumors, however, seemed to get under Cedric’s skin after a while. He’d notice how her friends would giggle as he’d wave at her across the great hall at breakfast, even though she’d told them a million times there wasn’t anything there. She knew that the Hufflepuff Quidditch team gave him crap for it too, locker room discussions that he wouldn’t give her any details for. She could feel it building, but it seemed to be something he’d rather deal with alone. So she left it that way.

Until one day in the library, propped up against a shelf reading books about magical herb classification, he turned to her and said, rather bluntly, “I don’t like you Cho.”

Momentarily startled, she had looked up from her book only to say, “Well I suppose you had better stop inviting me to study, then.”

He had laughed then, a bark cutting through the dusty silence of the library, and it sounded so strange that she had started laughing too. That had made Madam Pince usher them out of the library on counts of unruliness, which only made them laugh harder. 

Out in the hallway, laughter subsided and faced with quiet once again, he had turned to her somewhat more solemnly and remarked, “I should like you, Cho.” It was a statement, but it came out like a question, remnants of an internal struggle that in that split second, settled as realization in Cho’s chest. 

“Well why don’t you, then?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder playfully, and batted her eyelashes. She knew the answer, but she was letting him say it. 

“I don’t think I like any girls.” He didn’t look at her then, just looked over his shoulder and down the winding corridor, his cheeks burning. 

“Like any boys then?” Cho responded, trying to project as much support as she could into those four words.

He looked at her then, his cheeks still flushed but now pushed upwards into a smile. “Don’t laugh, but I think I’m kind of bonkers mad about Harry Potter.”

“Setting the bar a little high with this first crush, aren’t we?” She laughed, linking her arms in his and leading him down the hallway. 

“Oh well, he’s not my first crush.”

“Details, Ced, please.”

“Well my mom used to get a lot of Witch Weekly’s and-”

“If you say Lockhart, I’ll hit you.”

“I guess I won’t say anything then.”

“Cedric, Merlin’s balls.” 

“Come on, everybody’s had a crush on him. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.”

Cho rolled her eyes, shoving him on the shoulder. “I don’t like boys, Ced.”

His raised eyebrows were still seared firmly in her memory. 

Her eyes stung as she took another bite of her dinner, curling her feet up more tightly under herself. She had so many happy memories of Cedric and she hated that now they were all tinged with sadness, the golden face she remembered from fourth year, now cracked to show the ashen face of the seventeen year old laid in a casket years before his time. 

She closed her eyes, remembering again, not able to stop the tidal wave of grief that followed every happy memory of him. 

The rumors of their relationship had only grown with death. As if no one could imagine her crying over a friend. As if the only way people could justify her breaking down in potions class was by concluding they had been making out in broom closets when he was alive. 

That’s not to say any of her friends were comforting during that time. If they thought the impending war was scary, it was clear that they thought her tears mixing with her oatmeal in the morning was far more terrifying. People moved out of the way as she walked to class. She could feel eyes roll if she sniffled during Transfiguration. If she walked in the bathroom, even the girls waiting in line left without doing what they came for. 

She remembered how alone that had made her feel, how bitter it had made her heart. She had wanted to scream at everyone. If they were scared of a girl crying how would they be able to stand up to the man, no the _monster_ responsible for this stupid fucking war? How were they supposed to make Cedric’s death matter?

But not everyone had been scared of her, or for her, or around her. After a few weeks she found herself, however begrudgingly, not so alone anymore, with someone else golden in her life. Her heart clenched as her head filled with memories of wide blue eyes and long blonde hair.

She and Luna had been friends before the war. Sharing a room and all their classes had done that, but before Cedric’s death they hadn’t been close, Cho busy with classes and Quidditch practice, and Luna content to do whatever it was she was doing when she was off wandering the grounds again.

Surprisingly the deepening of their friendship started much the same way hers and Cedric’s had. Cho hadn’t wanted to worry her mother by telling her about Cedric’s death, but mothers listen with more than their ears and the dumpling packages started to arrive more frequently, as if she knew they were needed. 

One morning, after waking up had started getting harder, she arrived at breakfast later than she meant to and a package was already waiting for her at her usual spot, her owl long gone to the owlery. 

She sat down at the table and felt the usual hush spread over her classmates, and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes. She was tired of being sad, but she was more tired of everyone acting like she had been sad for too long. Lost in her own justifiably bitter thoughts again, she jumped when a voice sounded next to her. 

“Did you know they think Koi fish might actually be magical creatures now and not Muggle ones?” Luna’s dirty blonde hair was piled high on her head, with her wand sticking out of the back, along with a few colorful bobby pins. Of all the magic she’d learned at school, Cho had yet to figure out how Luna kept her hair in place. 

“Excuse me?” She asked after a minute, realizing Luna was talking to her. 

The other girl stroked along the gold detailing of her package from home, which Cho could now see were intricately drawn Koi fish interlocking together across the red background. 

“Yes, they’ve been doing testing in Malaysia I think, and have shown that Koi fish can bend probability of events in their vicinity.” She looked up, her blue eyes wild, the way they always seemed to be when she was talking about magic no one had heard of. “It’s quite top of the line research, really.”

Cho laughed, a noise that seemed to startle everyone else around her. “Koi symbolize luck in Japan, you know.” 

“Oh yes.” Luna smiled. “I always think it’s fun when Muggles figure out magic stuff before we do. They’re not as oblivious as everyone thinks.” And then she went right back to eating her breakfast, as if that had just been a normal thing to say. 

And soon things actually did start to feel a bit more normal to Cho. Slowly she found herself feeling less sad, as time went on. She could pay attention easier in class, She ate more at meals, she fell asleep easier and woke up feeling better. And surprisingly it wasn’t because Luna acted as a distraction, or served as a replacement to Cedric. 

In fact it was the opposite. It felt like Luna was the only one who let her be sad. She would listen as Cho would tell her stories about Cedric, or explain inside jokes they had shared. She would sit there quietly if Cho needed to cry, somehow letting her know she was there without making her feel guilty for being bad company. She let Cho be sad, and soon Cho realized she didn’t need to be sad so much anymore. 

And on the days when Cho was feeling better, Luna would lie back in the grass and tell her stories about places she had read about and wanted to visit. She would recount theory after theory of what she thought magical creatures were _really_ like, forever distrustful of the accounts she’d read in their textbooks, although Cho never really understood why. Or she would show Cho drawings she had done that week, small life studies of their classmates, caricatures of their professors, sketches of the squid peeking out of the lake, something she swore he did if Cho would only sit still long enough.

Once she flipped open to a page of sketches she had done of Cho during Quidditch practice, the first time Cho felt her heart stop because of Luna. She had laughed and told Cho that she was the most graceful one out there, that it felt like trying to sketch water. It was the first time Cho looked in her eyes and felt maybe she saw the same feelings behind them. 

But just like water, she could never be sure if it was anything more than a reflection. 

As the war grew closer, Luna’s stories about far away places started to sound more like concrete plans and less like fun stories. Cho had started to realize that she was running from something, but didn’t know how to ask what it was. Didn’t know how to ask if she could come too. 

And so the war had ended, amplifying that caged look in Luna’s eyes. And Cho had watched her run, and let her.

Cho drew in a shuddering breath, suddenly back in her apartment's living room, no longer watching Luna pack her things silently from her four poster. It took a second before she noticed her cheeks were wet, and they grew hot from embarrassment as she dried them, even though no one was there to see. 

She wondered where Luna was now and if she ever crossed her mind. She had thought of writing once they had graduated and went their separate ways. But every letter had felt like a needlessly desperate plea for her to come back. And so they sat unsent in her dresser drawer. 

Besides, those feelings couldn’t have been returned, Cho thought. If they had been wouldn’t Luna have said something? Those thoughts were a familiar spiral, one that Cho’s brain had tumbled about before. _It’s too late for this_ , she thought as she looked over her shoulder at the clock in her kitchen, blinking a time just past midnight. 

And so, she rose, put her emptied plate into the sink, and went to bed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Luna leaned back into the tree she was precariously perched on. The trunk, solid on her back even through the bountiful layers of robes she was wearing, grounded her. A quick look below reminded her that falling asleep meant a nasty fall. She gripped her sketchbook tighter and looked below her again, her vision momentarily obscured by the white puff of her breath hitting the cold air. 

It was late evening. On a normal day she’d have no reason to be tired this early, but she had been tracking the Zouwu sleeping on the ground below her since well before dawn. The creature stalked through its range during the day, and if this were any other animal, Luna could just retrace its tracks to find it later. But Zouwus were notoriously difficult to track because of their peculiar ability to bend space, letting them jump miles at a time in a matter of seconds. Tracking them involved constant vigilance and a few tracking spells Luna had developed by herself after months of research. 

Luna sighed, pulling her hood a little closer around her ears. The days in this province of China were already colder than she was used to, and as the sun had already slipped below the horizon, the temperature was dropping fast. She had taken to layering cloaks she had bought from some women in the village a few miles south of the forest, their coarse fabric giving her warmth as well as bulk until she resembled, she was sure, the very definition of a witch you’d expect to run in to deep in a forest. But she didn’t have time to worry about how insane she looked, several feet off the ground, covered in mismatched cloaks, her wand sticking out of her knotted hair. There wouldn’t be any passerbys anyways. It was just her and the Zouwu below her which, she reminded herself, she was supposed to be drawing.

She had cast a simple warming spell on her hands earlier, so she could grip the graphite without the hindrance of gloves. Repositioning the pencil in her fingertips she brought it lightly to the paper of her sketchbook. A few quick sweeps introduced the shape of the head to the blank white space, and a few more blocked out the position of the eyes. She let the arc of the pencil curve to indicate the swoop of the big cat’s short muzzle, making sure to add the four distinctive fangs pointing out from between its lips. 

Luna spared a quick glance below her to take in exactly how the cat’s wild mane spread out from its head as it slept, and she watched as it gave a little snort in its sleep. A smile spread slowly across her face in that moment of vulnerability, and for a second her heart grew warm with how thankful she was to be there.

The Zouwu had spotted her almost instantly as she began tracking it, but Luna had spent most of her life trying to convince animals that she wasn’t a threat, and after a few years, considered herself pretty good at it. The large cat had let her follow it through the forest as it foraged,stopped in rivers, and marked new territory, acknowledging her but not letting her get too close. This skill, this ability to blend into the environment enough that it let her stay, had given her an edge over a lot of the other magizoologists she had met. Their methods mostly involved captures and experiments, and creating simulations just to see how the animals reacted. But an animal in a cage was not the same as an animal in its home, and there was only so much you could learn that way. 

But there are some animals you couldn’t put in a cage, and then those methods failed. So here Luna was, sitting ten feet away from an animal who only had one line in her entire encyclopedia of magical creatures. There was almost no information about Zouwus, except how good they were at running away.

She almost laughed at that thought, as she continued her sketch, rounding out the curves of the haunches. The irony was not lost on her. While Luna didn’t know how to bend space to make a quick getaway, she had done a lot of running in her life. Her thoughts drifted back to Hogwarts for a few fleeting seconds, faces swimming before her eyes that she almost never allowed herself to think about. 

Ginny, her best friend, who she had been so scared of losing, to the war, to Harry, to a professional career in Quidditch. Ginny still sent her letters, and Luna always responded, but she hadn’t seen her friend’s face in years. And she realized, not for the first time, that this disconnect between them wasn’t Ginny’s fault. Luna had been scared, and so she ran. 

Harry’s face flickered in her mind too. He had been so kind to her during their school days, always stopping to talk, even though she knew he always had more important things to do. They probably could have stayed friends after the war, but instead she isolated herself. Losing the purpose the war brought made her feel just as much of an outcast as the first time she stepped foot into Hogwarts. It felt awful, even entertaining for a second the wish that the war had lasted longer so she could keep her friends. Because once it had been over, there was no more DA, no more school in general and she once again felt like she was watching things happen through a window. And so she stopped watching. 

The last face stuck in her mind much longer than the other two, halting the pencil in her hand as the image of it froze her heart. Cho. 

She’d been in China for almost three weeks now, and reminders of the other girl were everywhere. The first day she saw a hairpin at the market that looked like the one Cho had worn in her hair every Potions class to keep her bangs out of her eyes. In seconds, her cheeks were wet with tears, and she wasn’t able to describe exactly why. Her neighbor, a sweet older woman who insisted on bringing food over to Luna’s tiny house each week to make sure she wasn’t starving, cooked pastries that tasted exactly like the ones Cho’s mom used to send from home. Cho had let her try them one day when Luna had absentmindedly mentioned that she had been so wrapped up in a book that day she had forgotten to eat. Those sweets were still sitting on her counter, a reminder of her faults she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of. 

Thinking of Cho didn’t always make her chest ache like her heart was being suffocated by her ribs. In fact it used to do the exact opposite. She used to feel her heart melt at seconds-long eye contact across the breakfast table. She had spent weeks obsessing over the time Cho had tucked Luna’s hair behind her ears while they were studying. Her heart had nearly beaten out of her chest the first time Cho invited her, and just her, to Hogsmeade. It had felt like the two of them shared a secret they hadn’t dared to speak even to each other, and for a while it was what got Luna up in the morning. 

But after a while, Luna convinced herself it was only her who kept this secret. She thought surely, if Cho had felt the same, she would have said something, done something. Eventually Luna realized that if she wanted anything to happen, it fell to her to make a move. After all, that was the only way to _know_. 

But if she was wrong, if she said it out loud and she was wrong, she might lose her closest friend. There would be no more butterflies, no more hopeful hand touches, there might not even be talking. And so she bit her tongue. And when school ended, and she still couldn’t bring herself to say anything, she ran again. 

And she ended up losing her anyway. 

She felt her lower lashes start to freeze with tears on the verge of spilling and she pulled in a shuddering breath. She couldn’t do anything about that now. She steeled herself, the ice inside her matching the ice creeping up around her, and turned back to her sketch. It was almost finished now, her hands speeding up to add the last strokes of shading to the tail.

Satisfied with her progress she flipped back a few pages to review the notes she had taken during her tracking. She felt the soft snoring below her lift her spirits a little as she filled in her hasty notes from earlier. There was enough here to fill out a decent sized research paper, something else to add to her growing list of publications. She smiled, feeling a little proud of how her data would paint the Zouwu as the gentle, explorative creature it was, erasing the past narrative of elusive and aggressive. She’d never understand how her colleagues hadn’t yet grasped how much more you learned when you followed an animal instead of chasing it.

A screech cut through the silence, startling Luna so much she almost lost her balance, her knuckles white against the branch she was sitting on as she tried to steady herself. She looked down, but as the brief flash of light had indicated, the clearing below her was already empty, the skittish Zouwu no longer comfortable in her presence.

“Merlin’s tits,” she swore softly. It had taken almost three weeks of meticulous tracking to make contact. When she looked back up, a snowy ministry owl was perched on the branch in front of her, presumably the source of the damning screech. It hopped forward, offering her a letter from its beak. Luna took it, and despite its role in losing her test subject, gave it a gentle pat on the head. She had a hard time holding a grudge against an animal just doing its job. 

She flipped open the front flap of the envelope, pulling her wand out of her hair and illuminating the tip to read the words scrawled on the parchment.

_Luna_

She immediately recognized the hasty but measured script, remembering it from essays, the occasional blackboard, and of course every DA invitation sent and then immediately self destructed. But why would Hermione be writing her? She kept reading.

_I hope this finds you well and quickly. I wish I could spend yards of parchment catching up with you, but I’m afraid I’m writing on business instead. We’ve been having a bit of a problem at the Ministry lately with the local fauna. It seems that the main file room has been overtaken with a Cornish pixie nest. I’m sure you remember from Lockhart’s class how territorial they can be. We haven’t been able to file papers for about a week and it’s ground work around here to a complete halt._

_Of course, I would not have written you unless we had exhausted every other possible solution, as I assume your research is very important and needing of your full attention. But it has been a full week and we have seen no results. I was at a loss until Harry reminded me that you wrote your thesis on these, pardon me, insufferable creatures. I was hoping maybe that experience taught you something about getting rid of them._

_Please write back as soon as possible if you can help. And even if you can’t, please let me know the next time you are in London. We’ll tackle the catching up then._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione Granger_

_MoM, Department of Magical Legislation_

Luna had to suppress a chuckle, as the letter immediately conjured up the image of the last time Hermione had to fight back a horde of Cornish pixies. She hadn’t needed any help then, but of course, she didn’t mind completely tearing up Lockhart’s classroom. She suspected no one had been able to get in there without risking any more damage to what she was sure were important files. 

Of course pixies were easy to deal with if you could convince them you weren’t a threat. Promise them a good time somewhere else and they’d leave without so much as a raspberry blown in your direction. So Luna flipped the letter over and scrawled a response on the back, using the graphite she had been drawing with earlier. 

_I’d be happy to help. I can be there in maybe two days._

She’d put a speed spell on the broom she had purchased in the village, and when she tied her hair back before hand, hurtling through the sky somewhere around 200 kilometers per hour turned out to be not that unpleasant. As long as she remembered to cast the shield spell to keep out any birds. 

Before giving the letter back to the patiently waiting owl, she scrawled one last thought.

_I’ll need a place to stay, as I expect this might take a couple of days._

And with that, the bird disappeared into the night, much quieter than it had arrived. 

It surprised her a little that the decision to go back had come so easily to her. Her research here was important to her, and she had only just begun. But the more she thought about it, maybe it didn’t surprise her at all. 

She loved her work, and the animals she was able to get close to, and learn about. But as far as she could tell this Zouwu had lived in this forest for centuries. It would be here when she came running back. 

Humans didn’t stay in the same place for centuries. And she supposed maybe it was time to learn how to run back instead of running away.


	3. Chapter 3

Cho woke up before her alarm but resigned herself to getting up anyway, forgoing the extra ten minutes of sleep. Instead she took extra time braiding her hair up off her neck, letting the thick plait circle around the crown of her head, in a way that guaranteed it would be out of her eyes for the rest of the day. She pulled a sweater over her head and slipped into leggings and boots, pulling on an embroidered robe as an afterthought as she headed from her bedroom to the kitchen. 

The robe had been a gift from her mother when she had graduated. It was dark blue, and cut in the style most wizards wore, but the fabric was run through with thread in the shape of koi fish swimming through a river. It was beautiful, and she had hugged her mother fiercely when she gave it to her, and told her she loved it. But those first few months after graduation she had rarely worn it. Even looking at it had made her sad for a while, although she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, say why.

But today, koi fish encircling her waist, the silver thread throwing off sparks as she passed the sunlight in the window, it felt like a good luck charm. 

She ate a simple breakfast alone in her kitchen, a bowl of fruit and some milk. She skipped her usual mug of tea, because as soon as she was ready she was headed off to the small tea shop around the corner run by Parvati and Lavender. They met every Wednesday morning for a chat, and a tea reading that was free as long as Cho brought them sweets. 

Finishing her breakfast, she wrapped up the promised sweets in a paper bag, having made pastries a few nights earlier. They shouldn’t have gone stale yet, and would hopefully still serve as an appropriate payment.

She took her time on the walk there, reveling in the quiet of the morning streets, before Diagon Alley exploded with shoppers and business people alike. She saw nobody on her way except a stray cat who sniffed curiously at her ankles before bounding away. 

It was a short walk, and she let herself in the back, calling out to her friends as she entered, hearing them moving around the kitchen. 

“Lav, Parv, I’m here!” Parvati stuck her head out from behind the kitchen door, her braid swinging behind her. 

“Do you want peppermint or jasmine?” She asked, listing Cho’s two most popular tea choices out as options. 

“We’re out of jasmine,” Parvati’s girlfriend called out from the kitchen.

“Ok, do you want peppermint or peppermint?” Parvati amended with a smile.

“Peppermint’s fine,” Cho chuckled, following the swish of Parvati’s braid into the small but aromatic kitchen. “Hey Lav.” Cho pressed a kiss to the other woman’s cheek, as she settled into her usual place against the kitchen counter, watching Lavender steep her tea. 

Lavender babbled on about town gossip as she dipped the silver tea strainer in a mug of boiling water, as full of secrets as she always was, and mostly indiscriminate about sharing them. A tea leaf reader as she always said, was under no obligation to keep the secrets you told her. Parvati watched her girlfriend and business partner information dump like she hadn’t talked in weeks with a soft smile on her face that twisted Cho’s insides in a sickeningly adorable way. 

“Oh and your girlfriend was in here the other day, babes-”

“We went on one date, Lav, she wasn’t my girlfriend,” Cho interrupted, hardly stopping Lavender’s conversational flow. 

“Well, anyways her reading was full of ravens, so you dodged a bullet with that one for sure.”

“Ravens can mean lots of things, Lav,” Parvati chastised, running her fingers through Lavender’s hair. 

“Yeah, and one of those things is a disasterous love life.”

“Well, let’s hope we don’t see any ravens in yours,” Parvati said, ever the optimist, as she handed Cho the steeped tea.

Lavender laughed. “Yeah we don’t want to learn things we already know.”

Cho snorted a little into her tea, not offended enough to defend herself.

“Her love life is not that disastrous!” Parvati smacked Lavender’s arm. “It just seems that way because she’s friends with us and we’re grossly in love.” As if to prove her point, she leaned in and kissed Lavender on the mouth, a move so smooth you could tell it had been preceded by hundreds of kisses on hundreds of other mornings. Cho rolled her eyes, trying to drink her tea faster.

They kept chatting as they drank, Lavender drinking a blasphemous cup of coffee to wake herself up before their workday started. “It just works _faster_ than tea, Parv.”

But soon, Cho was done, and she set the tea cup down so Parvati and Lavender could crowd their heads above it and tell her in the vaguest terms how her week would go.

“Ooh lots of leaves today.”

“Yeah well you gave me the strainer with the hole in it,” Cho said, fully aware of the tricks they used to bolster their practice, even if she did have to admit, both of their readings had always been scarily accurate. 

“Ignoring the sarcasm, I think I’m seeing a mushroom in this corner.” Lavender said, eyeing Parvati for confirmation. The other woman nodded.

“But it’s far away from the cup’s handle.”

“Is that important?” Despite having a weekly reading, Cho had never fully picked up on any of the intricacies of Divination. 

“Well, it just means that it’s not something happening in your immediate past or future. Mushrooms mean separation of lovers, so it’s possible that a breakup you had in the past or in the future is going to affect your surroundings this week.”

Lavender chuckled. “Maybe it’s the raven girl.”

“I’d hardly call us lovers,” Cho remarked, recalling the rather chaste kiss they had shared at the end of their awkward date. She’d hardly call it a break up either, just a slowly lengthening amount of time between speaking as they mutually tried to ghost each other. Parvati kept talking, circling the cup around in her hands. 

“Babe does this look like a hare to you?” When Lavender nodded, Parvati looked back up at Cho to explain. “That means the return of a friend. And it’s practically on the side of the cup, which I’d say gives it the chance of happening today. Is anyone visiting?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Hmm ok.” Parvati turned the cup in a half rotation so she was looking at it upside down. “Well if I look at it this way, it looks like a frog.” She smiled at Lavender, who smirked back. 

“What, what does that mean?” 

“It means success in love.” Lavender grinned at her from across the table, “Aw baby girl’s finally gonna get laid.”

Parvati barked out a laugh as Cho’s cheeks grew warm. She stuttered, a bit flustered, which only made the couple laugh harder.

“Well I have no dates planned this week and no future prospects so I think this just proves you guys are getting rusty.”

They each held a hand to their chest in mock offense.“Ok but when have we ever been wrong?” Lavender stated matter of factly.

Parvati wasn’t listening as Cho and Lavender bickered back and forth about the accuracy of Divination, her face taking on its usual focused expression as she slipped into analysis mode. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen this combination before, which could speak to the uniqueness of the situation,” she muttered, mostly to herself, only barely registering that Lavender and Cho had stopped arguing to listen. “You usually see the same symbols over and over for usual life events, like marriage, or moving house, or losing a pet or loved one. Those are things everyone goes through. But this-”

She paused to rotate the cup. Cho’s heart stuttered a bit. 

“This feels personal. Like it’s going to change your life.” Parvati breathed the words out gently as if speaking them softly meant they wouldn’t settle in Cho’s ribcage like a boulder. She was silent for a second, before looking up, noticing the changed atmosphere in the room. “Oh dear. That doesn’t necessarily mean big things are coming. Some people consider a hair cut life changing.”

“Are these haircut symbols?” Cho asked, trying to ignore the chill on her skin. 

Parvati chuckled a bit, taking a second before she spoke again. “I don’t think so, no. Three symbols is a lot for one reading, but it doesn’t necessarily mean three events. The mushroom is big but not concentrated.” She pointed into the tea cup here at the vague fungal shape, made with so few specks of tea that it was almost an outline. “That could mean this separation of lovers is something that’s important to you, but not something you let be visible in your life.”

Cho’s thoughts flitted to last night, almost reaching the memory her mind was searching for before she changed its trajectory, quick enough that nothing would register on her face. Parvati pressed on. 

“And this next symbol,” She paused here, turning the cup upside down, then right side up again, “The fact that I can see it both ways probably means that the return of the friend is what brings you success in love. Or that maybe your success in love brings you back a friend. I don’t normally see two symbols merged this seamlessly.” She looked back up at Cho. “Maybe you’re in love with a friend? It’s the mushroom that’s worrying me though. Depending on which way you hold the cup, it could be the past or future. Or both. So whatever you do with this mysterious _friend,_ ” she drew out the word to its full length. “Hold on tight. Or you might lose them again.” 

Cho’s cheeks grew hot at Parvati’s piercing eye contact, stuttering syllables that were barely audible. She didn’t know what to say. Silence filled the room.

“But really there are a million ways to interpret this,” Lavender spoke at last, taking the tea cup from her girlfriend’s hands. “Not that Parv is wrong, just that there’s not really an exact science to this.”

Cho knew her friend was only appealing to her more academic side here, trying to steer the conversation to a place that would allow her cheeks to cool, her tongue to unfreeze. It worked, Cho accepting the social cover. 

“Looks like it’s going to be an interesting week for me, then,” she muttered, forcing herself to laugh, to seem unfazed.

Parvati grimaced a little, never realizing the full weight of her predictions until she saw them shouldered by someone else. “Lav’s right, I’m probably wrong.”

Cho smiled weakly as she gathered her wand, and slipped back into her robe. She pushed the bag of pastries across the table, smiling as Lavender immediately dug in. Saying goodbye, she held back the waver in her voice as she said, “Come on, when are you guys ever wrong?”

Her walk back to the bookstore was brisk, as if slowing down would speed up the tumble of thoughts in her head. But speeding up didn’t help that either. 

Cho was still in touch with almost all of her Hogwarts classmates in one form or another. There weren’t that many of them, and surviving a war together made them close. Of her small list of exes, there wasn’t one she could feasibly imaging tumbling back into her life. But still, she didn’t know why the reading had immediately made her thoughts jump to Luna. 

She rubbed a hand over her temple. They hadn’t even been lovers. Cho’s crush didn’t mean they were anything more than friends. Because Luna hadn’t shared those feelings.

And besides no one knew where Luna was. Their only acknowledgement that she was alive was when she heard through the grapevine that Luna had sent Ginny a letter, or she came across a new article she had written in a new shipment of books.

_You can’t keep doing this,_ Cho thought as she unlocked the front door and started opening the storefront of Flourish and Blotts. _You can’t keep putting feelings where they don’t belong. It’s sad._

So she told herself Parv was getting rusty, and tried to go about the rest of her day as if she hadn’t been basically given a prophecy mere hours ago. 

It helped that the stream of customers was fairly constant now that summer was coming to an end and her clientele now included whole families searching for school books instead of just the occasional oddball academic. 

She helped a soon-to-be first year find Professor Longbottom’s assigned Herbology reading for the semester, reassuring her about the thickness of the book by telling her Professor Longbottom was the nicest man she’d ever met. She shared the same relieved look on every parent’s face when she told them they’d discontinued publication for The Monster Book of Monsters, and they could find their regular inanimate Care of Magical Creatures Books between stacks seven and eight. She did her usual mind numbing inventory checks, the monotony of her weekly tasks clearing her head of the events of the morning. 

In fact she had almost forgotten, nearly dead on her feet as she crossed the floor to flip the open sign to closed when Hermione blew through the door like she was being chased by a cyclone. 

“Cho! Thank Merlin you’re still open,” Hermione said, her voice resounding through the silent stacks of books all around her.

“Just barely,” Cho responded. “I don’t think I’ve gotten any new history books since you last came in.” Their conversation was polite but mostly professional. Of course Cho remembered Hermione from school, but their correspondence nowadays mostly consisted of Cho directing her to the shelves that would help her fill out her always impossibly long reading list. 

“Oh I’m not here for reading materials this time,” Hermione said, trailing off to lean around Cho and inspect the newest display on magical spell law and regulation. “All though I might get something anyway…” She paused again, before remembering why she was here, her eyes snapping back up to Cho’s face. “Oh! I came to ask you something!”

Cho paused, until she realized Hermione was waiting for some kind of response. “Yeah?”

“You have a spare room, don’t you?” When Cho nodded she continued. “Is it empty? Or more appropriately, would you mind renting it out?”

“Oh, um I guess not.” Cho could use extra spending money, she supposed, and it wasn’t like she was in her apartment all that much. 

"Excellent. Molly and Arthur are visiting Ron and I this week, otherwise, I’d put her up at our place.”

“I’m sure you have more than enough on your hands dealing with your in laws-” Cho started sympathetically.

“Exactly! I love them but it’s turning out to be quite the hassle. Anyways it probably won’t be for too long, we’re just having problems at the Ministry and I had to call in a specialist.” Hermione hugged Cho, before adjusting her coat and turning to leave. “Thanks again! I’ll give Luna your address and she should probably be here tomorrow afternoon!”

The door had slammed shut by the time the name had registered.


	4. Chapter 4

Although she preferred Thestrals to brooms, flying had always cleared Luna’s head. There seemed to be something about being so high above the earth you couldn’t see people anymore that brought about a sense of clarity. If Luna had to guess, she’d say it was the solitude. 

But the altitude wasn’t thinning her thoughts this time, her lungs gasping as her head grew heavier with worry. She knew why she was nervous. She hadn’t seen any of these people since school had ended. Aside from seeing Neville across the room at a magical research symposium and downing her drink before turning away, she was essentially about to reintroduce herself into society. It was thrilling, but not in the good way. 

Like it always did when she was stressed, Luna’s mind turned to her mental catalog of animal behavior, flipping through until she found what she wanted. Her mind stuttered as she remembered her research with rehabilitated animal care. _Is that what she was?_ she thought briefly. _A rehabilitated animal_? 

In order for any successful reintroduction of a rehabilitated animal into a local population several things had to be done. First, the animal had to be fully trained in essential behavioral skills. _Ok_ , she thought. _No more sleeping in trees. Probably no more talking to yourself out loud. And no more strict observation._ She wondered briefly if everything would be just the same as when she was in school. If the person she would be staying with would steal her shoes. Or if people would whisper mean things as she passed knowing full well she could hear them. But they had all grown up. She had fought in the same war they did. Surely that meant something. 

Second, the animal should be thoroughly checked for injuries or illnesses that would give it less than optimal chances of survival. She should be fine there. She was in perfect physical health, and if she gave herself a little time to brush her hair and fix her robes, she could probably pass for someone who hadn’t been living in the woods for the past six months. 

The sun peeked over the edge of the horizon, the light catching on the masses of trees that sped below her. She could make out a shape getting nearer to her, and she dropped a little altitude, hoping the bird wouldn’t hit her. But it dropped lower as well, and when it got closer she could see that it was Hermione’s owl. She dropped her shield charm and sat up, letting it land on the broom handle in front of her. 

Hermione’s reply was short, just a vaguely familiar address scrawled on a scrap piece of paper. Luna couldn’t remember why she recognized it, so she folded it up and slipped it into the pocket of her robe, swiftly replacing the shield charm as soon as the owl took off. 

The last step of reintroducing an animal was the most important. Acclimation. She had helped with this in every release she’d been a part of through work. You took the animal to an isolated spot in its new environment, and allowed it to familiarize itself with the surroundings, alone. That’s what she would do, she thought. With the speed she was going at now, she’d probably reach London around one o’clock. She hadn’t given Hermione an exact time of arrival, so that gave her plenty of time to find a pub, grab a drink, and just get used to being surrounded by people again. 

She tucked her knees and lowered her head, anxious now to just get this whole reintroduction business over with. _You can do this_ , she thought to herself, before letting the air rushing through her hair strip the rest of her thoughts away. 

She did reach London around one o’clock, cloaking herself in an invisibility charm well before she reached the city. Hovering above the streets, she picked an empty alley to land in and stashed her broom in her undetectable extension charmed bag. She quickly made her way to the concealed entrance to wizard London, and slipped inside. 

The nostalgia hit her as soon as she reached the other side. Wizard London even smelled different. She felt eleven years old again, like she could turn around and see her father behind her, reading out her list of school supplies. But when she turned, it was just the nondescript brick wall behind her, and she was suddenly twenty-two again and alone. 

Luna held her bag close as she made her way to the pub she remembered was around the corner. It was around lunch time.The streets were busy with people enjoying their break from work, and she overheard brief fragments of conversation as she walked down the street. Couples laughed and children bickered, and everyone around her seemed to be in their own separate world. It felt… surprisingly normal. She had forgotten the monotony that came with living in a city. 

Finally she reached the door of the pub, and turned the handle to enter. Luna hadn’t seen anybody she recognized yet, the city feeling bigger than she had remembered, but she was thankful for it. She was sure she looked as out of place as she felt. She ordered a Firewhisky at the bar, the bartender’s pretty smile stunning her before she took her glass and made her way to the back. Finally seated, she leaned back and let out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. A feeling stirred in the pit of her stomach, and for a second she couldn’t name it.

Not nervous. But excited.

Luna reached into her bag and fumbled until she found her notebook. She’d had it since school, adding more pages when she needed it, and if she remembered correctly, she’d drawn a map of London somewhere near the front when she was still in school. Pulling it out, she flipped it open, finding it nestled in between her sketches from some Herbology class, a lesson long forgotten. 

She reached into her robe pocket as well, finding the address Hermione had sent her, and she unfolded it and spread it out next to the map. She scanned the streets, scrawled in her fourteen year old handwriting, almost painful to look at but comforting at the same time. She found the street she was looking for and slowly traced her finger down its winding path until she found approximately where the number should be. Her fingernail scratched lightly against faded lettering that spelled out _Flourish and Blotts_. Of course that had been why the address sounded so familiar. There must be an apartment above the store.

Luna leaned back against the wood of her booth, sipping her drink slowly. She wondered who worked there now, hoping that the gnarled bookkeeper she remembered from her school days had long since retired. 

The whiskey burned the back of her throat on the way down but she could already feel it warming the inside of her, loosening the knots in her back. She finished her drink slowly, watching patron after patron walk in and out of the pub, and feeling much more at ease, made her way to the bathroom to see if she could do something about her hair.

The mirror was dingy but it did a fine enough job. She loosened the knotted strands of her braid and instead of bothering with a detangling spell, swept the mass of knots into a low bun. She could deal with it when she got wherever she was going. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, setting her jaw, and then wandered back out onto the street.

It was less crowded now, people either having returned to work or gone home. She was already on the street leading to the bookstore, but it was a long road and she had time before she got there. She wandered in and out of stores a bit, maybe stalling, but mostly reminding herself of the nooks and crannies of Diagon Alley. She bought herself a couple of chocolate frogs at the candy store on the way, with the intention of maybe using them to lure out some of those pixies Hermione was so worried about, but she thought she might eat one on the way there. 

Finally her boots clicked to a stop on the cobblestones in front of the store front. The windows had been repainted, the curling letters no longer chipped so they spelled out _Flour sh nd Blot s_. The stacks inside seemed more organized, even in the dim lighting. Luna suddenly realized it was past closing, and wondered how she was supposed to get in if the door was locked. But she tried the handle and it wasn’t, a bell tinkling to announce her arrival. 

She stepped inside.

“Sorry, but we’re closed. We’ll be open again at nine tomorrow.” A muffled voice floated out from somewhere in the sea of stacks, barely audible.

“Actually, um -” Luna’s voice wavered, her mouth a little dry from the flying and the whiskey so she cleared her throat, “Sorry, I’m here about the spare room?”

She heard a book drop on the floor, followed by quick footsteps, and suddenly Cho Chang’s startled face appeared in front of her, three stacks deep. 

Luna’s eyes widened and she squeaked out a “Merlin’s balls.” The embarrassing exclamation hung in the air between them for a second, before Cho’s face cracked open in a grin.

“Merlin’s balls,” she exclaimed back, crossing the space between them and pulling Luna into a hug. Luna suddenly had to fight back tears as she remembered this was the exact same position they were in the last time they saw each other. Cho pulled away, still smiling and obviously trying to ignore her misty eyes. “I haven’t seen you in five fucking years.”

“It’s felt like forever,” is all Luna said back, and she meant it. Cho looked older than she did in school but it suited her well. Luna felt the muscles in her arms through the hug. It was obvious just from looking at her that she still hit the Quidditch pitch. She carried herself more confidently than she did back then, and Luna didn’t know if it was just the situation but she looked happy. Independent.

“You must be exhausted. Hermione said you flew?” Cho asked and Luna nodded. 

“I don’t like Apparating. It feels like cheating,” Luna said wistfully, still taking in her friend as Cho lifted Luna’s bag off the ground and started to move to the back of the store, presumably to show her up to the apartment. 

“That sounds like you,” Cho laughed, but her sentence trailed off a bit at the end, as if she wasn’t sure she was allowed to say that anymore. 

They walked together up the steps, Cho unlocking the door and flicking on the light switch. “Well this is it. Your room is over here, just past the bathroom.”

> Image Description: A digital drawing of Cho and Luna standing in the doorway of the apartment, facing forward and smiling slightly at each other. Cho's hair is in a braid and she is wearing a simple blue t-shirt with a golden snitch on it and carrying Luna's purple and pink duffle bag. Luna's hair is in a messy bun with her wand and three heart pins holding it up and is wearing a multi-patterned purple, pink and blue shawl. Art by nosignofwings. End description.

The light suddenly illuminating the small above shop apartment showed a space that Luna was sure she would have recognized as Cho’s, even if she wasn’t standing right next to her listening to her apologize for the busted light in the bathroom and the window in the guest room that didn’t quite shut all the way. Luna recognized her in the stack of books on the coffee table, with their ears dogged and with tiny scraps of paper sticking out the sides. She recognized her in the cramped but delicate handwriting scrawled into the form of a grocery list on the fridge. She recognized her in the kitchen that smelled just barely of lemon and sugar, and the faint but distinct smell of a cooking spell clinging to the walls.

Luna’s eyes drifted down the fading wallpaper and landed on Cho’s face again, who was looking at her wide eyed and smiling crookedly.

“I know it’s not a lot, but Hermione said it would just be for a few days, and I get Muggle television, so there’s that.”

Luna laughed breathily, her heart racing for reasons unbeknownst to herself. “It’s perfect,” she muttered, her voice coming out lighter than she’d meant it to. “I know it was short notice, so thank you again.”

Cho mentioned again that it really was no trouble before leading Luna down the hall, bag in hand, and showing her the spare room she’d be staying in for the next few days. She dropped Luna’s bag on the bed and left her to get settled, retreating on soft footsteps to the kitchen.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Luna sank down onto the bed and let out a sigh. Her heart fluttered frantically against her ribs. The person she’d be spending the next few days with, the person she’d probably eat meals with, share a bathroom with, and wake up in the morning to was Cho freaking Chang. Suddenly an entire host of feelings she didn’t think she’d have to be dealing with any time soon came crashing down on her. 

It made her realize that those feelings had never really left, and now instead of looking into the eyes of her best friend at seventeen and trying to figure out if the world would explode if Luna had said ‘ _I like you’_ , she had found herself looking into the eyes of a twenty-two year old almost stranger, with a job and a life and biceps that showed through her shirt, and still having to bite back the words, _‘holy shit I really like you’_. 

Luna rubbed her temples, trying to will those words far enough back into her throat that she was sure they wouldn’t slip out of their own accord. She wasn’t allowed to feel like this. She and Cho hadn’t spoken or seen each other in five years. Five _fucking_ years. No letters, no run ins, no accidental Floo powders. And Luna knew that was mostly her fault, because she was elusive, and hard to reach and it had been her that had left in the first place. But five years of silence had cemented in her mind that even if there had been any chance of Cho liking her back in school, the distance brough by both time and, well, distance, had brought that chance back to zero. 

_She was nice enough to let you stay here, you cannot repay her by falling hopelessly in love again,_ Luna thought, before she tucked her bag under the bed and stepped back out into the hallway. 

She padded softly down the carpet towards the kitchen where she could hear the soft whistle of a teapot just beginning to warm up, a sound not normally heard in most wizard homes. 

“No warming spell?” she asked, hoping that the question would break news of her entrance without frightening her host. 

Cho turned, smiling, as she pulled tea bags out of the cupboard. “Feels like cheating.”

Luna noticed she had pulled two mugs from the shelf. Cho turned around with two different brands of tea, holding them up like a question and waiting for Luna to pick.

“Actually, I was thinking of heading to the Ministry before it gets too late. Hermione wants me to start as early as possible, so I figured I should get briefed tonight.”

“Oh right,” Cho’s face fell an almost imperceptible amount. “You have important work to do.” Her cheeks lifted again in a smile.

“It is a little late though. Do you think Hermione will still be there?”

“I’m honestly not convinced she ever leaves.”

Luna laughed. “I should get going then,” she said and turned towards the door to leave.

“Wait!” Cho barked, just as Luna’s hand landed on the handle. She walked over to the key hooks hung just beside the door and slipped one off. She untucked her wand from behind her ear and transformed the keychain into a necklace chain, before slipping it around Luna’s neck. “In case I’m asleep by the time you get home.”

With that Luna slipped out the door, trying to ignore the burning imprint of where Cho’s fingers had brushed her collarbone, and the fact that in all the times she'd thought about Cho giving her a key, none of them had gone like this. 

***

The nearest Ministry entrance wasn’t a far walk from Cho’s apartment, and Luna entered without delay. The lobby was nearly empty, her only company a few tired looking Ministry paper pushers making their way to the nearest exits, some of them softly cursing their bosses on the way. She walked slowly along the edge of the wall, looking for some kind of signage that might tell her where Hermione’s office would be, but a shout across the marbled floors turned her focus in another direction.

“Luna!” Hermione waved at her as she briskly made her way towards her, heels clicking loudly on the tiles from underneath her Ministry appropriate robes. “You made it!”

Luna smiled at how much and how little Hermione had changed since school. She looked so grown up, even at twenty-two, with her wild hair tamed into elegant braids tied into a knot at the nape of her neck. Her put together appearance sat in contrast with the amplified personality Luna recognized from school. It was obvious that whatever power that came with her position in the Ministry, she was making it work for her. 

“Sorry I’m late, Hermione.”

“Oh you’re perfectly fine, I just finished up at a meeting.” Luna glanced at a clock along the wall and wondered what kind of meeting ran until ten-thirty at night. Whatever kind, Luna was sure Hermione had organized it. 

Hermione led her down winding hallway after winding hallway, all the while rattling on about how difficult this situation had made things for her department, and how grateful she was for Luna’s timely response. “If I could just get Davies to answer memos as fast as you, I could finally break that damn record for most permits in a month.”

Luna wasn’t even going to touch that can of worms.

They turned down one last hallway and Luna could hear the damage before she could see it. The tell-tale shrieks of pixies floated down the hallway bouncing off the stones above their heads as Hermione brought them to a stop behind a line drawn hastily on the floor. 

“Any closer and they go absolutely mental. You know how territorial they can be. Of course that makes it a bit difficult to get rid of them.” Hermione said as Luna took a look around. 

She was right.The fact that the pixies weren’t visible from this supposed edge of their territory caused problems. It was hard to shoot immobilizing spells at something you couldn’t see. But something about the scene didn’t sit right with her. 

Pixies were entertainers. They knew they were ruining your day and they wanted to watch you as you watched them fuck up your shit. Your reaction was half the fun for them. But their behavior was mostly just for show. They didn’t retreat like this, showing true territorialism, unless they were provoked. Or felt threatened. 

If she had to guess, she’d say the Ministry’s response to the initial infestation was probably what caused most of their problems. But she looked at Hermione, still talking, and knew saying that probably wouldn’t help her get them out any faster. Instead, she let Hermione ramble on about possible strategies, as she formed her own plan in her head. Finally, as her eyes were beginning to close on their own, she spoke.

“If it’s ok with you, I think I’ll start in the morning.” Luna lifted her head to look down the hallway again. “Unless there’s any terrible complications, I could probably have it fixed in a few days.”

“Oh of course you must be exhausted.” Hermione said with a smile. “Do you think you can find your way out? I’d walk you to the lobby again, but I have some paperwork waiting for me in my office, and the lobby is a little out of the way.”

Luna nodded and made her way through the lobby and back towards Cho’s apartment, wondering how many caffeine spells Hermione had pumping through her blood at the moment. She barely remembered the walk back, finding herself suddenly in the spare room again, standing in front of her bed. Her eyes were closed before her head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

Cho woke to the faint sounds of morning starting to take its hold on the streets below her. She had just barely heard Luna come in late last night before falling quickly back into a restless, dream-ridden sleep. She was almost grateful to be awake again.

She slipped out from between the sheets, her feet padding softly across the room as her body sung with awareness of the other person in her space. Every movement sounded too loud as she walked with baited breath around her own apartment. She slipped quietly into the kitchen to make the tea she always made before breakfast, heating the water up in her cup so the whistle of the tea kettle wouldn’t wake Luna. She drank it quickly, feeling the warmth and caffeine spread through her veins. 

This whole situation still had her head spinning. She thought back to seeing Luna for the first time yesterday afternoon. She had looked so different, still so wild, but rugged now, instead of delicate. She had looked older, and hardened, and- _good._ _Yeah,_ Cho thought, _mostly she had looked good_. 

They had only spoken briefly but talking to her again had felt like picking up a book you had forgotten you were reading. One you found tucked away somewhere with its ear still dogged, and you flipped it open to start reading again even though you weren’t entirely sure you remembered who the characters were. But then there you were again in this world that you had loved but forgotten, and as you stared at the pages you couldn’t for the life of you remember why you left it. 

Cho shook her head. She needed to calm down. She needed a shower. She needed fresh air. 

Wiping the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, she grabbed her broom from beside the door, tucking it under her arm so she could tie up her hair. She padded back down the hallway, pausing, just for a second, outside the spare bedroom’s door. And then she slipped back into her room, and out the window, her thighs tightly gripping her broom handle as she let herself fall into the wind. 

Even after leaving Hogwarts meant that she didn’t have Quidditch practice to report to, Cho flew every morning. There was something comforting, something she couldn’t quite name, about having the wind toss her hair around for an hour as she watched London wake up from a healthy distance. She didn’t know if it was the thrill, the distance, or the cold but it felt wrong starting her day without it. 

Though she was some couple hundred feet above Diagon Alley, her braid flying behind her and the wind bringing tears to her eyes, her mind was still below her, still paused in front of that bedroom door. Her eyes turned below her too, sweeping back over the dozens of roofs she had passed, where she knew her apartment lay waiting. 

What was going to happen here? Would Luna stay for a few days, finish her job and then leave again? Leaving things, and leaving _her_ exactly the way they were before? Would Cho let her leave again?

Her breath hitched as she spun her broom around, facing home. Luna had just needed a place to stay, she told herself. It was irresponsible to think it had been anything more. It’s not like she had even requested to stay with Cho. She had just had a spare room at the right time. Besides, it’s not like Luna arriving had put her life on hold, she thought. She still had things to do, friends to keep up with, a business to run. 

Her head ran hot, despite the cold air rushing past her. She wasn’t sure if she was angry at herself, for still harboring these feelings she hadn’t realized she had been hiding, or at Luna for showing up, or at Hermione for putting her in this situation. 

_Not every girl you went to school with can be gay,_ she thought, almost bitterly thinking of Parvati and Lavenders maddeningly healthy relationship, and of all the old school mates she’d taken on awkward dates and kissed in bar bathroom lines. _Be mad at the statistics and move on,_ was her final thought as she landed lightly again on the roof of her apartment. 

Swiping a few sweaty strands of hair off her forehead, she opened her bedroom window and slipped inside, her feet landing solidly on the carpet as she heard a muttered “Oh!” from across the room.

She looked up into Luna’s face staring at her from around her bedroom door, suddenly very aware she was standing there sweaty, wearing only the sweatpants she had slept in and a sports bra. “Oh hey-”

Cho’s sentence was cut short by Luna’s hurried excuse, “Sorry I-”

They stopped simultaneously, their words hanging in the air. Luna spoke first.

“I was making coffee and couldn’t find the sugar. Sorry, I remembered you always waking up early, so I was just checking to see if you were up yet.” Her hair was wild, the rest of her appearance making it clear that she had been awake maybe five minutes at the most. She smiled sleepily. “I hope it’s ok I’ve been messing around in the kitchen.”

Cho crossed her arms just barely, covering the ridge of her stomach. “Yeah that’s fine. Sorry, um-” She grabbed the t-shirt she had slept in off the bed and pulled it over her head. Propping her broom up in the corner of the room she followed up with, “Here I can show you where I keep it.”

She followed Luna back out into the kitchen, noticing but not how her pajama bottoms were embroidered with Nargles. Noticing but not how her hair caught the light coming in through the kitchen window. Noticing but not how freckles spread in constellations against her bare shoulders. 

Cho stretched up on her toes to pull the sugar off the top shelf of her cupboard, Luna looking up at her smiling. 

“What?”

“I just realized why I couldn’t find it,” she laughed, still looking up at the shelf hanging way out of her reach. Her voice was throaty, hoarse from sleep and it set off a rumble in the pit of Cho’s stomach. 

“If I put it somewhere inconvenient I don’t use it so much,” Cho responded, handing her the small jar and watching her spoon at least half the contents into her cup of coffee. “You’re up kind of early.”

Luna laughed again, the notes of it swirling up in the steam of her coffee and sticking to the kitchen ceiling. “I don’t think it qualifies as early when you’ve already fully woken up and gone flying.” Her eyes raked up and down Cho’s body, an action that did not go unnoticed by its subject matter. 

“Well,” Cho started a little shakily, but finding familiarity at the way Luna poked fun at her. “You were up way later.” She set a pan on the stove and summoned a few eggs from the fridge. “Did you forget we shared a dorm for seven years? I wasn’t expecting to see you awake until at least noon.” 

“I figured it would be better for Hermione’s peace of mind if I made it there at a reasonable time on at least day one.” Luna said smiling over her coffee. “And I didn’t sleep until noon every day.”

“Well you definitely made it a habit.” 

The conversation came easily as Cho finished making breakfast. She learned that Luna was there to help with some pixie infestation at the Ministry that was making Hermione’s life miserable. Luna said that she loved what she had done with the bookstore below and said she would stop there when she took a break for lunch, since she wanted to do some reading up on pixies anyways. They finished, and washed their dishes, falling into the same domesticity they had shared as roommates in Hogwarts. 

Cho left to take a shower, and get dressed for her day. When she stepped back out into the living room, Luna was gone. 

***

Cho opened the bookstore without problems, opening the shades, sending a dusting spell racing along the shelves, making sure she had enough cash in her register before locking it back up again. The store was quiet, but her mind wasn’t. Dust motes danced in the light from the windows as her thoughts hurled themselves against the sides of her skull like lemmings. She had to get out, if only just for a few minutes. 

Seeing as there weren’t any customers banging down her door (a Thursday morning wasn’t exactly a big day for bookstores anyway), she scrawled a hasty sign on a spare slip of parchment and grabbed her wand before stepping out onto the street. Her handwriting spelling out _Be Back in 15_ sat atop the front desk, a notice to any customer who might come wandering in. She set off down Diagon Alley, until her boots clicked to a stop in front of Parvati and Lavender’s shop.

She opened the door slowly, the bell hanging above it signaling her arrival. She could see a customer seated across the room leaning over the table as Parvati gave her a reading seated from her position on the comfortable cushions they had scattered about the place. Cho moved her head to look for Lavender, but the other woman was already standing at her side. 

“Hey,” Lavender greeted Cho warmly, propping up her arm on Cho’s shoulder as they both watched Parvati put on a show for the customer she was helping. 

Parvati’s gaze was serious, and she wiggled her fingers more than she needed to, because, as she had told Cho once, it added panache. Neither her girlfriend nor Cho could hear what she was saying, but from the flash of her teeth ever so often and the movement of her eyebrows, she seemed to be hamming it up pretty hard. Cho raised her eyebrows as she watched the customer lean forward smiling, trailing just the tips of her fingers along the edge of Parvati’s hand.

“You know your girlfriend’s getting flirted with over there, right?” 

“Of course, why do you think she’s doing the reading solo?” Lavender asked, keeping her laugh quiet so it didn’t disturb the scene across from them. “We’re about to get our biggest tip this week.”

“Wow…” Cho murmured, her eyebrow still cocked. “Shame on you.”

“Oh don’t be like that, it’s harmless.”

They retreated back into the kitchen so Lavender could finish packaging the tea blends they sold at the front of their store, but they were only in there for barely a minute before she turned most of her attention to Cho. 

“So what’s up? You look-” Her eyes swept across Cho’s face and it felt like she could see more than Cho thought she was revealing. “Distracted,” was the word she finally landed on, before her eyes met Cho’s again as she waited for a response. 

Cho sighed. She knew she had come here precisely because of Lavender’s innate ability to see through bullshit, even when Cho thought she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. But exposing herself to Lav’s annoyingly perceptive Divination powers always felt better in theory than in practice.

“Come on, if you really didn’t want to talk about it, you wouldn’t have come all the way over here.”

“I’m renting out my spare room,” is what Cho finally said, picking up a metal spoon to help Lavender portion the loose tea leaves. 

“Is the bookstore not doing well?” Lavender asked, her warm brown eyes showing concern. “You know me and Parv will always help you out if you need it.”

“No it’s not because of money.” Cho dropped a scoop of jasmine leaves into a bag. “Hermione asked me to do it as a favor.”

“Wow, well if they’re stressing you out that badly, you can always crash at our place.” Lavender replied. Her and Hermione weren’t sworn enemies anymore, after Lavender had jumped off the compulsory heterosexuality train, and Hermione had ended up marrying the man they were fighting over anyway. But they did each harbor personalities that tended to clash with each other. It was common knowledge to Cho that Lavender found Hermione stressful, and thought she had a habit of asking favors that were too much for their recipients to handle. 

And it was a nice offer, Cho knew, but she also knew if she wanted this conversation to get anywhere, she’d have to break the rest of the situation. 

“It’s Luna.”

Lavenders hand stilled. “Oh shit.”

Parvati burst through the door, bracelets tinkling on her wrists as she hefted a handful of coins, letting their rattling fill the room. “Drinks are on me tonight.” She smiled, flashing white teeth as she dropped her tip into their tip jar on the counter. Then she looked up, finally clueing in on the tension in the room. “What’s happening?”

Cho felt her cheeks redden. “Luna’s staying with me for a few days.”

“Holy fuck.” Parvati’s eyes went wide as she shot a knowing glance at Lavender over Cho’s head.

“Ok it’s really not that dramatic,” Cho said, suddenly regretting coming over in the first place. Her friends were supposed to reassure her she was being stupid, not react like this. 

“Not that serious?” Parvati asked. “You didn’t leave your house for a month when she left to go gallivanting out who knows where after graduation.”

“We’d just fought a war, I was sad for other reasons.”

“Your readings said otherwise.”

“God Parv, I know tea leaves pay your bills, but they aren’t right all the fucking time.”

“You’re telling me she’s not the reason you holed yourself up and refused to even consider dating for like two years?” Parvati shot off, but Lavender pulled her to her side, her strong arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders stilling her for just a second. It was a second before Lavender spoke.

“If she’s telling us that’s not why, then that’s not why,” Lavender said, before turning to fully face Cho. “Are we happy about this?”

“Yes.” Cho felt her temper dipping just a bit, because it was true. It had been so nice this morning, even just talking to her over breakfast. Just knowing she was in the next room when she woke up. Because they had a few days to get to know each other again. So yeah, she was happy about this. 

“Ok then. We’re happy for you too.” Lavender’s arm tightened around Parvati’s shoulders until she nodded as well. 

“I have to get back to the store,” Cho said, tying off the last bag she had made and tossing it on the pile. She turned quickly to leave, feeling but ignoring the tears starting to prick at the inner corners of her eyelids. She made it all the way to the door before Lavender’s hand closed around her wrist.

“What,” she snapped, before wincing at the harsh edge of her voice. But Lavender wasn’t phased.

“I’ve been in the denial phase before, and I’m just letting you know-” She paused her eyes flitting back over her shoulder for a second, “It’s better to know. Even if she doesn’t like you back, what you’re doing to yourself now? Overthinking every word? Replaying every touch? It’s torture.” Cho bit the inside of her lip, about to respond, but Lavender loosed her grip, and so she stepped back out onto the street instead. 

Cho started back towards the bookstore slowly, her hands stuffed in her pockets, and Lavender’s words swirling through her head. Is that what she was right now? In denial? And what did that mean, that Lavender had been in the denial phase too?

It was hard for Cho to think of Lavender and Parvati as separate entities sometimes. They complemented each other so well, with Parvati’s sharp wit and serious intelligence and Lavender’s silly front hiding the vast compassion within her. After a while their edges seemed to blend together. Even at school before they had started dating they were near inseparable, always giggling about some private conversation, in class, or in the Great Hall, or, according to the rest of the Gryffindor girls, in the dorms. It had been infuriating at times, sitting next to them while they entered their own private world. Cho couldn’t believe that there was ever a time where Lavender had believed she was in love with her ‘straight best friend.’ 

Because, she reminded herself, that’s what Luna was. Or had been. In school she was her straight best friend. And now she was the straight girl staying in her spare room with whom she hadn’t spoken in five years. _So no Lavender,_ she thought, _I don’t think we’ve ever been in the same phase_. 

But something else was stuck in her head, not Lavender’s words, but Parvati’s. She couldn’t deny that the reading they had done for her a few days ago had definite similarities to her current situation. What was it that Parvati had said? _Hold on tight, or you might lose them again_. 

She pressed her finger tips to her eyelids. _You can’t confess feelings to someone because you think some soggy plant remnants are telling you to,_ she argued against her unreasonable side. And besides, maybe all that had meant is that she had a chance to rebuild this friendship they had lost after graduation. And wouldn’t that be nice enough? Wouldn’t that be enough that she wouldn’t have to ask for more?

She had reached the entrance of the bookstore again, noticing that a few customers had slipped in in her absence. She took her spot behind the register, eager for the excuse to push these thoughts to the back of her mind and turn her attention instead to the old man placing a book on magical fungi in front of her. 

“Let me just ring this up for you. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

Lunch came and went but Luna didn’t appear as she had promised earlier. Instead, customer after customer trailed in, ringing the bell as they did so, and Cho had to keep dismissing the disappointment that sat in her belly every time it wasn’t Luna walking through that door. 

Cho reminded herself that Luna was here for work after all, and not just to sleep in her extra bed and eat meals with her and indulge this stupid fucking crush that was growing faster than she thought possible. And she had almost convinced herself she was okay with that when the bell on the door tinkled one last time, finally hung over dirty blonde hair and wide blue eyes. 

Luna smiled when she saw her behind the register and held up a brown paper bag. “I brought you lunch!” She smiled as she crossed the wooden floor between them. 

“Luna it’s almost seven o’ clock. Are you just now taking a break?” Cho asked bewildered.

“That would explain why it was so quiet while I was walking here.”

Cho laughed, having forgotten how intensely Luna could dive into work. “You must be starving,” she said as she took half the sandwich that Luna offered her. 

“I don’t think I realized I was until now. It’s very diligent work, getting pixies to like you.” She smiled, as if that sentence made any sense at all.

“Getting them to like you?”

“Well yeah, the easiest way to get rid of pixies is to find them somewhere more exciting to be. And to convince them I know somewhere more exciting, I need them to trust me.” Luna started to recount the events of her day, which mostly involved her getting incrementally closer to their nest while trying to convince them she wasn’t a threat. Cho almost choked on her sandwich when Luna showed her the imitation pixie call she had been practicing to integrate herself into their nest. 

“Ok it’s not that funny,” Luna said, but she was laughing too. “It’s not a pitch meant for human vocal chords.”

“You sound like one of Flitwick’s singing toads.”

“Well they were talented enough to screech through the halls every Hogwarts Christmas, so maybe I should be taking that as a compliment.”

“You can pretend I meant it that way.” Cho snorted, that fateful screech still ringing in her ears. 

> Image Description: A drawing of Luna and Cho sitting at a table facing each other. Cho listens Luna’s talking animatedly. She wears a shirt and a cardigan. Luna wears a light blue robe with a flower print. Art by 32090810. End description.

They finished their sandwich, and Cho led Luna to the book section on Magizoology. Luna scanned the titles before stopping, neck craned towards a stack several inches above her head. She pointed at a title, _The Nesting Habits of Urban Pixies_ , before stating lightly, “Bested by my stature once again it seems.” 

Cho immediately rose on her toes, slipping the book out from its shelf with just the very tips of her fingers. “You could have just used your wand,” she said as she handed the book to her friend.

“You kind of beat me to it,” Luna said, and Cho felt her cheeks darken. 

Luna flipped through her new book, mumbling something about how their nesting pattern just didn’t seem usual. “Of course it’s just so hard to predict behavior, and… motivation...” She let the last word hang in the air, her gaze drifting back to Cho’s before dropping it back down to her book. “But this book might help me figure it out tonight.”

“You’re going back?” Cho asked, having been under the impression that she was done for the day.

“Yeah I think I might lose progress if I stop so soon,” Luna said absentmindedly, still flipping through her book. “Oh,” she looked up, “Did you want to do something tonight?”

Cho blushed, feeling selfish again, like she was asking for more time from Luna than she was worth. “No, not at all. I’ll leave the kitchen light on for you, in case you get back late.”

Luna smiled, her signature, toothy, heart melting grin. “Thank you.” She reached out and squeezed Cho’s hand. “And thanks for the book.” 

And just like that Luna was gone again. Leaving Cho to close up shop and head upstairs to her empty apartment that somehow felt emptier now than when she had lived alone. 

She had made up her mind however. She would go see Lavender tomorrow. She needed explicit instructions on how to get out of this denial phase. 


	6. Chapter 6

There was something about living in such close quarters again that almost brought back who they were as Hogwarts students. Luna would find herself referencing jokes she hadn’t thought about in years just to hear Cho snort when she laughed. She could see small details of herself begin to imprint on Cho’s daily routine just as she saw fragments of the other girl in her own day to day life.

Luna’s sleep schedule was far from normal, but she found herself waking earlier and earlier each morning in the hopes that she could pause outside the bathroom, just for a second, to hear the last verse of Cho’s shower-acoustic version of the latest Weird Sisters song. She would leave notes in the front of books she had borrowed because she knew Cho had to go through them before she reshelved them again. 

Cho would leave her breakfast in the fridge if she left for work before Luna got up, a note taped on top saying _I accidentally made too much_ in quaint but hurried handwriting. She would leave notes in books she brought home for Luna too, bright colored slips of paper sticking out from between pages she thought Luna would be most interested in, as well as ones with funny pictures on them. 

Once Luna fell asleep on the couch around four thirty in the morning, and woke to find herself covered in a blanket, books neatly stacked on the coffee table, each one carefully bookmarked exactly where she had left off. 

It almost felt unfair that Luna never caught Cho in the same way. Hair wild, passed out, drool crusted in the corner of her lip. Even when Luna thought she would be the one waking up early for a change, there she would be in the kitchen, freshly showered from her flight, barefoot, and making them breakfast. 

It was a little unspoken dance they were doing, the choreography for which they had memorized long ago underneath turreted roofs and between stone walls. There were some days their behavior was so familiar that Luna spent the whole day half convinced she was late for class. 

But it was juvenile too, this play acting like they were school kids again. Luna, dancing around her friend, dipping as close as she could to that deeper meaning, before ducking away at the last second. Scared. Her stomach constantly sat on the razor thin edge of alight with nerves and full of happiness, not sure which side to pick. Not sure if it meant anything.

She was sitting at the kitchen table of Cho’s apartment one day, skimming through migratory pattern books as she listened to music drift out of Cho’s room. She had just come back from the laundromat, and was presumably putting her clothes away, but if the shadows in the hall were to be believed, she was dancing to the Weird Sisters new album again. Luna had thought she’d been at work and had startled when she walked through the door carrying her laundry basket, but Cho had reminded her that it was Sunday and the bookstore was closed. It was hard keeping track of the days when she spent most of them locked deep inside the bowels of the Ministry. It was hard keeping track of anything when she was rooming with someone who looked like _that_.

Even on laundry day Cho looked like she could run into the worst of exes and not break a sweat. Her hair was tied up into a knot at the back of her head, held in place with her wand, small strands delicately framing her face. Her joggers hugged her waist, separating for just an inch with her tank top, showing a toned strip of tanned skin. Even the laundry basket she had balanced on her hip popped the bicep in her arm. Luna’s throat suddenly felt dry.

“Watcha reading?” Cho’s tone was casual as she swung her apartment door shut behind her.

“What?” Luna couldn’t remember a single fact about the book in front of her.

“Your book?” Cho said, an eyebrow raised. “I’m guessing it’s not any good.”

Luna turned her furiously blushing face back to the illustrated pages spread out on the table in front of her. “Oh. It’s just research.”

Cho smiled, her lip scrunching a bit in the corner like she wanted to say something else. “Well I’m gonna go put all this away so I won’t distract you,” she said, padding down the hall, not giving Luna the chance to ask for the distraction. 

So there she sat, head in her hands, wishing for a distraction when one came flying headfirst into the kitchen window. 

The pane rattled. Luna jumped halfway out of her seat, just barely clinging on to the table. Cho’s footsteps pounded back down the hall.

“Bloody hell, are you okay?” Cho panted, helping Luna back into her seat. “What the fuck was that?

“I think it was an owl.”

The two girls rushed to the window, and Cho pushed up the glass pane as Luna reached over the sill to cradle the (thankfully still breathing) feathery mass into her arms. 

“Oh god,” Luna murmured as she recognized the gray tone of the feathers. “I can’t believe this bloody thing is still alive.”

“That’ll be from Ginny then, huh?” Cho asked as she inspected the owl in Luna’s arms. “And I’m guessing it’s for you.”

It was indeed, and Luna gingerly untied the letter from Errol’s leg, before she passed him over to Cho for some needed care and attention. She unfolded the parchment and sat back down in one of the kitchen chairs to read it. 

_Hey babes,_

_Heard through Hermione that you’re in town for a few days. Let’s grab a drink tonight?_

_Please?_

_-Ginny_

The correspondence was short, as were most of Ginny’s letters, but the sight of her spiky handwriting always warmed Luna’s heart. It had been so long since she’d seen her in person. She had been a little scared of reaching out when she had arrived, scared that distance and time had dampened her and Ginny’s friendship despite their regular letters. But with Ginny’s first move and clear intentions, she was reminded that people still cared about her despite what she might have told herself on more than one late night.

Her eyes drifted up from the parchment and back over to Cho, who was cradling a now conscious Errol. “Good news?”

“Just Ginny asking if I want to get a drink later,” Luna replied.

“Oh that sounds fun. I’ll leave the light on for you again.”

Later, Luna found herself in her bedroom, standing hesitantly in front of the closet, mirror hanging on the back of the door. It had been a while since she had seen Ginny in person. She wondered how much Ginny had changed. She wondered if she herself looked any different. 

She finally settled on a flannel to battle the chill, slipped on over an old t-shirt tucked into torn and patched jeans. She pulled her boots out from the back of the closet. It was the only pair of shoes she owned because she traveled light for her job. They were practical and hardy, but they were also... chunky. She slipped them on anyway, doubting the bar served barefoot patrons. 

Straightening up, she looked at herself in the mirror. “You look like…” Her voice came out soft, a remnant of having no one but herself to talk to on long weeks in the Chinese jungle. “A lesbian,” was what she settled on.

“Hey,” Cho’s head popped into her room, hand on the door. Luna’s back snapped up straight, feeling caught. 

“Woah no need to panic. I’m about to start making dinner. Am I making you some too, or are you about to leave?”

“I think I’m heading out. Thank you though.” The gesture was so simple but it resonated with Luna. She wondered when they had slipped into roles that felt less like landlord and tenant and more like flatmate and flatmate. She didn’t let herself dwell on it for too long. 

The walk to the bar was quick, but the chill still darkened pink circles on Luna’s cheeks. She slipped in through a crowd of several younger, already inebriated wizards, before spotting the back of Ginny’s head at the bar. She announced her presence by clearing her throat, not wanting to scare her.

“Oh my god, Luna!” It was clear that Ginny was a few drinks in, but even when they were back at school she was known to jump feet first into every situation. She wrapped Luna immediately into a warm hug. “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” Luna replied, the words muffled against Ginny’s shoulder. They broke apart, Ginny smiling broadly, and Luna not able to keep herself from smiling at the sight. It felt good to see her again. 

They caught up about the usual stuff. Hermione had presumably already filled Ginny in as to the nature of Luna’s trip back home so they didn’t talk about that for long. Ginny asked her about her research, and Luna gave the same spiel she gave to everyone else who wasn’t as entrenched in the subject matter as she and her colleagues were. Ginny told her about Harry, how they had only just moved in together, after both taking some time to recover from the war. But she mentioned they had talked about marriage, and sitting there, across the table from her best friend, it struck her for just a moment how different their lives were. Ginny talked about her upcoming Quidditch tryouts, how she was hoping to make it off second string this year for the Harpies and how she was trying to convince Cho to try out with her.

“We still do pickup Quidditch games every Saturday, and she’s absolutely brilliant, Luna.” Luna could imagine, her head suddenly full of memories of her ass planted firmly in a seat in the stands, holding her breath every time Cho dipped upside down. She moved like water, eternally fluid, and immensely stronger than she looked. “She can fly circles around the rest of them, it would be crazy to actually have her on the team. But she’s missed the last couple of games.” Ginny looked across the bar at Luna’s distracted expression. “Have you seen her since you’ve been back?”

“I’m actually -” Luna cleared her throat, her firewhiskey tickling the back of it. “I’ve actually been staying with her.”

“Oh?” Ginny’s eyebrows were raised, but the supposed surprise didn’t reach her eyes.

Luna launched into an explanation of Hermione basically renting out Cho’s spare room for her, a brief description of the cute little above shop apartment, and something basic about how nice it was to see her again. 

“And?” Ginny said, the intention of her word clear even through the alcoholic tinged fog that was starting to grip the edges of Luna’s brain. She fidgeted with her cardboard coaster in lieu of an answer. But it was answer enough. “Fuck,” Ginny muttered, her expression turned sympathetic.

It wasn’t like Ginny was unaware of the situation. In fact, Ginny had been the first person Luna had come out to. In school, Luna knew, people thought she was the girl that said everything that was on her mind. The girl that spoke because she could, even if no one else knew what she was talking about.

But it hadn’t been true. Luna had been an intensely guarded person. Still was, as a matter of fact. She talked of Nargles, and Wrackspurts because she had thought, maybe a little naively, that that knowledge would have been useful to its recipients. And she gave advice when asked. But she rarely, if ever, talked about herself. 

Ginny had been one of the only people to break down those barriers in school. It had been hard for her, after her first year, with the possession and all, and Luna sometimes thought that maybe if that had never happened, they might not be friends. The popular athlete and the weird bookworm, from different houses no less. But she was thankful that they were. Especially second year. 

“Do you ever think that what goes on inside your head is so weird that if you ever said it out loud, nobody would ever talk to you again?” Twelve year old Ginny had sat down in front of her in the library, her voice at an appropriate whisper, but her fiery eyes amplifying their volume in Luna’s head.

_Yeah,_ she had thought. _Yeah I think if I told you I wanted to kiss you, you would for sure never speak to me again._ They had started hanging out at the beginning of the year, and now, at almost Christmas, young Luna was starting to realize that the other girls in their dorm were dreaming of kissing the tall Gryffindor Quidditch boys that were three years older than them, and not their short, freckly, _girl_ best friends. But instead all she had said was, “I think so.”

“I still hear him, you know.” Ginny had said, looking like she had wanted to say that for a long time. “In my head. In dreams.” She’d stared, eyes wide, waiting for a response.

“Brains are kind of funny like that,” Luna had said, trying her best to be comforting. “It takes a while for them to forget things.” And when Ginny had just continued to stare at her, she added, “I don’t think you’re crazy.”

It was silent for a bit, before Ginny’d half deflated, her shoulders sagging. “Thank you,” she’d whispered, her voice incredibly small. It was then that Luna had decided that Ginny liked to do brave things, say brave things, just to remind herself what it felt like. 

Ginny had pondered something for a minute before turning back to Luna and asking with that same twelve year old brashness “Wait, what’s your deep dark secret then?”

And Luna, for once, had wanted to know what it felt like to be brave too. She’d thought, _if Ginny could tell me that, maybe she won’t mind if I tell her this. Maybe she’ll tell me, I’m not crazy either._ And so she’d placed her book upside down on the library table to keep her place, tucked her hair behind her ears and said, “I’m gay.” Not _I think I’m gay,_ as she had whispered in the bathroom mirror before. But _I’m gay_. Definitive. Brave. True. 

“Dude that’s cool.” Ginny had smiled that toothy grin. “Way cooler than hearing voices in your head.” 

And that had been that. Luna hadn’t told anyone else in her time at Hogwarts. That one brave act had been enough for right then. Had been enough to remind her that she was capable. Ginny had faithfully kept her secret, and when Luna’s secret crush on Ginny had run its course and she found her thoughts preoccupied with black hair, quiet laughter, and expert flying, Ginny had caught on quick and had been there for her, even if she couldn’t exactly do anything. 

“You know, if it’s too much,” Ginny’s voice, low and gravelly from the alcohol, pulled Luna back to the present. “If it’s too much, you could always come stay with me and Harry,” 

The offer was sweet, but it halted Luna’s thoughts for a second. Did she want that? Was dealing with her feelings painful enough to outweigh the fact that she had gotten her friend back? 

“I just mean,” Ginny continued, never one to endure awkward silences, “I know how much you’d liked her, and sometimes that’s awkward… you know, to deal with.”

It was an age old dilemma that Luna had been dealing with ever since she realized she liked girls. Is even having a crush on your friend enough to make them uncomfortable, even if they never find out about it? But something else Ginny said stuck in her mind. _Liked._

Luna sighed as the weight of it settled on her shoulders. The word felt like a wrong note played in a familiar song. There was nothing past tense about her feelings for Cho. They weren’t going away. If anything, she thought, musing about the last few weeks they had shared together, they were growing. 

“Okay, you have to say something, you’re freaking me out,” Ginny said, white knuckles circling around her sweating glass. 

“Sorry, yeah, I think I’ll stay. And...” She paused, calculating the risk of saying this outloud.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m falling for her.” 

As soon as she said it, it felt wrong. Mispronounced somehow. She tried again, “No, I know I’m falling for her.” Luna looked up at Ginny. “It doesn’t feel like a crush anymore.”

Ginny’s face split into a smile and she reached over to put a hand on Luna’s arm. “That’s good!” She exclaimed, her voice bubbly from her drinks. “You don’t have to look so sad about it.”

“It’s just,” Luna rubbed her temple. “I can’t tell if she likes me back.” Suddenly the Magizoologist in her took over as she started to detail the mental list she had been taking of all the miniscule signs that could mean Cho might be into her. 

“She always makes me food when she cooks, even if I’m not there. She’ll just put it in the fridge with a note. But she’s always been a generous person, and most recipes are more than one serving anyway, so it could just be for convenience sake.”

Ginny scrunched her eyebrows.

“And sometimes we watch movies together and her couch is really long, but she always sits right next to me.” Luna scooted her barstool closer to Ginny in demonstration. “Like this, shoulders touching. But then again, it’s always kind of cold in her apartment, and I tend to run kind of hot, so maybe she’s just doing that because I’m warm.”

The rest of Luna’s anecdotes followed in similar fashion. She’d state something she’d thought was an indication of reciprocation of her feelings. But she’d immediately follow it with the context that she was convinced altered the intent. Ginny let her go on for several minutes, her expression growing more and more amused. 

“But you know, platonic affection is a thing, and just because she grabbed my hand one time doesn’t mean anything, and -”

“Oh my god, Luna.” Ginny’s exasperated voice cut through Luna’s minutes long soliloquy. “Can I point out the very obvious solution here?”

“Yeah?” Luna brought her hands back down to the bar from where they had been frozen in the air, mid explanation. 

“I know this scientific level of observation works very well for learning about animals you can’t communicate with.” Ginny almost looked like she pitied her. “But you and Cho are the same species you know. You speak her language.”

Luna sat there, still waiting for the solution. 

“Talk to her, dummy.” Ginny laughed, finishing off her drink. 

“But what if she doesn’t like me back, and -”

Ginny cut her off one more time. “Does it matter?”

“What?”

“If she doesn’t like you back, would it matter?” When met with Luna’s confused expression, Ginny continued on. “Honestly, Luna, Cho is one of the nicest people we went to school with. I heard her apologize to Harry once mid game, because she caught the Snitch before him. Even if she doesn’t like you back, she’s not going to be weird about it.”

Luna scrunched her nose. “But -”

“Listen, I know it’s scary. But if you tell her, no matter the answer, at least you’ll know. And that has to be better than...” she gestured in Luna’s direction, “whatever the hell that just was.”

Luna laughed a little, finally able to see how ridiculous she was being from an outsider’s perspective. Ginny was right. She was being ridiculous. Cho was not one of the creatures she was studying. She could talk to her and she _should._

The night started to wind down, and their conversation turned to lighter topics as they began to say goodbye. Ginny made her promise to let her come visit the next time Luna was in one place for a decent chunk of time. Luna promised she’d make it back for Ginny’s wedding, no matter what corner of the world she was in when she got her invitation. As they broke apart from their hug goodbye, Ginny lifted her hands to cup Luna’s face.

“Talk to her. No running away this time.” 

“I know,” was all Luna said in response, before they each turned to walk different directions down the darkened streets of Diagon Alley.

The walk home was quiet, which gave Luna a few minutes with only her thoughts as company. She fiddled with her wand as she mulled over her and Ginny’s conversation. _No running away this time._

Her breath cut through the night air in a short laugh. _No running away._ Of course it was obvious to Ginny that running was Luna’s go to method to solve any and all of her problems. It should’ve been obvious to everyone. Her Patronus was a hare, an animal that only survived in the wild for its proficiency in fleeing. An animal that, when presented with question fight or flight, chose flight every time. 

But it didn’t have to. _She_ didn’t have to. And besides, she thought, if this wasn’t worth fighting for, what was?


	7. Chapter 7

Cho woke to a quiet apartment. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and got up slowly, making her way from her room to the kitchen. 

Luna had been out late enough last night that Cho had been asleep before she had heard her come home, but since Cho could see her key hanging up by the door, she assumed that she must be safe and in bed by now. Cho hadn’t known Ginny very well in school (and really would only call her an acquaintance now), but if they had been out that late she assumed a healthy number of drinks had factored into it. Her own temples throbbed at the thought of the last hangover she had suffered, and she set about making some ginger tea along with her breakfast to set out for Luna when she woke up.

Once she had finished her breakfast and dressed, she grabbed her broom from the corner of her bedroom and slipped out her window. 

The wind immediately rose up to meet her, the current carrying her over the streets of Diagon Alley, but the altitude wasn’t doing its usual part to clear her head. She got barely two streets over before she was redirecting her course from her usual flight path until she was hovering over the roof of Lavender and Parvati’s place. She dipped her height a little, until she was half balancing, half hovering over the windowsill of their kitchen window. Biting her lip, she leaned forward and knocked.

Then she knocked a little harder.

Finally a light turned on down the hall, and Lavender, still in pajamas, stumbled out into the kitchen. Cho watched her stub her toe on a chair before she found the light switch and made her way to the window, cursing. Her expression was still bewildered as she pushed up the glass pane.

“We have a fucking door, Cho. You look like a cat burglar,” Lavender said, as she leaned out the window to make sure no one was on the street to witness the exchange. “Do you know what time it is?”

Cho skipped the banter and ignored her question. “I think I’m ready to talk about it.”

Lavender backed up, her expression gone soft. Finally she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Give me a second to change,” was all she said before she retreated back to her bedroom. “But you’re buying me coffee.”

She emerged a few seconds later, still sleepy, but out of pajamas, and clambered through the window to sit on the back of Cho’s broom. With Lavender’s arms around her waist, Cho steered them lower and zipped through the nearly empty streets until they landed in front of the only coffee shop in Diagon Alley that woke up as early as Cho did. Lavender made Cho buy her two espressos before she’d let her speak. 

“Ok, go,” Lavender smiled as Cho rolled her eyes at her fussy behavior.

“I want to know what you meant by the denial phase.”

“Seriously?” Lavender laughed. “You’re living it.”

“You said you’d talk to me about this.” Cho hated how defensive she sounded every time the subject was brought up, but she didn’t know how to cut the desperation from her voice.

Lavender put her cup down. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Cho sighed, one hand rubbing her tired eyes. “This is so stupid. I hate asking for advice with this stuff.”

“Well, I’m a good person to ask.” 

“You’re seriously telling me you ever thought Parvati might not like you?” Cho asked, still dubious. “It was so obvious.”

Lavender laughed, “Yeah dumbass, I know that now. And you’re kind of answering your own questions here.”

“What?”

“It was totally obvious that Parvati liked me. But _I_ couldn’t see that, because I was too afraid it was all in my head. It’s impossible to tell if someone likes you when you like them back _so hard._ ”

“Oh,” Cho muttered.

“That girl spent most of her school days finding any excuse for us to be alone, or hold hands, or play with each other’s hair, and I still thought I was making it up. You’re too close to the situation. It’s like reading your own tea leaves. It’s never gonna be accurate because you can’t be objective enough.” 

She was making sense. It was hard to be objective when she had no way to distinguish what Luna’s actions actually meant and what Cho wanted them to mean. 

“But you know what the worst part is?” Lavender asked. Cho shook her head. “When we realized how much time we had wasted just by being unsure.”

Cho leaned back in her chair and Lavender let her words sink in, taking the opportunity to finish her third espresso. She was right too, Cho thought. What if she wasn’t making it up, and they could have been starting something this whole time? 

“God, I’m being so childish, aren’t I? I should just ask her.”

“Yeah maybe,” was all Lavender offered up in response. 

By then, Diagon Alley was starting to wake up around them. They sat there for a while, talking about other things, before Lavender needed to get back to help Parvati open up the shop. They decided to walk instead of flying and set off down the streets together, Cho’s broom now slung over her shoulder.

“Ugh, now I have to deal with finding a good time to ask her.”

“Girl, you’re going to create problem after problem for yourself just so you can stall.” Lavender cut her a piercing look. “Just say it and then you’ll know. Rip the bandaid off.”

Cho bit her lip, to stop from complaining any more. “Why do you always have to be right?”

“Hindsight’s twenty twenty.” They turned the corner, ending up on the street where they had met over an hour ago. “Oh, actually, do you have any gum?” Lavender asked, and when met with Cho’s confused expression, followed with, “Parvati doesn’t like it when I do tea readings smelling like coffee. Says it ruins the ambiance.”

Cho laughed, and pulled a pack out from her pocket, handing over a strip. They hugged goodbye, but Lavender caught her wrist before she had a chance to pull away completely. 

“Hey,” she said. “I haven’t really seen you guys interact so I can’t say this for certain, but I’m sure her answer is going to be more positive than you’re expecting.” And with that she slipped inside her store. 

Cho’s walk back to her apartment was short. She unlocked the doors and made her way up the back stairs to her apartment, opening the door to find Luna awake, sitting at the island, drinking the tea she had made. 

“Hey, you’re up early.”

Luna smiled sleepily over the brim of the mug. Cho’s heart sped up when their eyes met. “Yeah I never sleep well after I drink. Thanks for the tea.”

“Of course.” Unsure of what else to say she walked past the kitchen to put her broom back in her bedroom, and grabbed a sweater while she was in there to wear while she opened up the bookstore. She smiled as she passed Luna again, stopping at the fridge to grab the lunch she had packed the night before.

“Hey,” Luna’s voice was still soft from sleep, its soft cadence enough to tie Cho’s stomach in knots. _You could say it right now,_ she thought. “Do you need any help with the bookstore today?”

Cho straightened up and turned around. “You aren’t going into the Ministry?” she asked. Luna had been there so late recently, Cho was beginning to fear her work was almost done. Was she finished? Could this be her last chance to say something? 

Luna shook her head. “No, I got in contact with a pixie rescue program and I’m waiting on them to get here so they can help me relocate the pixies. It’s not really a one woman job. I just thought I’d offer to help so I’m not up here doing nothing all day.”

“I’m sure you could use the break.”

“I don’t like sitting still.”

Cho paused for a moment. Luna had been here for a couple weeks now, and just because they had been living in close proximity to each other didn’t really mean they had had a lot of time together, what with their different work and sleep schedules. An idea meandered its way into her mind.

“Do you… wanna play hooky?”

Luna looked surprised, but excited. “You can do that?”

“It’s not like I’m the only bookstore in Diagon Alley. I don’t think one day off will be a disaster.”

Luna smiled. “Okay, then yes, definitely. What are we gonna do?”

Cho sat across from her at the kitchen table. “Anything you want.” 

They talked for a while, Cho listing off some options before she realized that the last time Luna had been to Diagon Alley was when they were in school. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “ _S_ _o_ much has changed.” And soon, Luna was scrambling to get dressed so they could leave for the proper tour Cho was going to give her. 

They started out on the main street, Gringotts looming at one end, while people went in and out of the many shops that sat in its shadow. Cho had decided that they had to stop at the Weasley’s joke shop first, because, “really it’s gotten so much bigger, they’re doing so well, you have to see it.”

The shop was crowded as always, which made Cho’s chest warm. They had to squeeze past a gang of teenagers to get in, and Luna put a hand on her hip so she wouldn’t lose her in the crowd. That made other parts of Cho warm. 

They scanned the walls together, Cho pointing out the items where she had figured out how they worked based on her charm research. Even a few she had helped improve. She hadn’t exactly been close with the Weasley twins in school, but she guessed her charms work with the DA had made her stand out. George sometimes came to her with questions after their intramural Quidditch games.

“Hey what are you doing out on the floor with all the regular customers?” 

As if he had known she was thinking about him, George appeared from behind a stack of enchanted candies. He’d been promoting an improved line of his Puking Pastilles and Nosebleed Nougats with longer and more realistic effects. 

“Hey George.” Cho offered up a wave when a passing customer bumped Luna up against her side, bringing her heart rate up, and Luna to George’s attention.

“Luna, Merlin’s balls, it’s been years.” 

They caught up as well as they could in a crowded store, as Cho watched the two of them from the side. Luna was blushing, as if she was embarrassed to have to reintroduce herself to him, but George seemed nothing but excited to see her again. 

“You know, my mum still asks about you everytime we’re all over there for dinner. You were definitely her favorite out of Ginny’s friends.”

“Oh that’s so sweet.”

“She still complains every time we degnome the garden that we don’t do it as well as you. Guess that makes sense considering where you ended up.”

Luna blushed harder. Cho would have to remember to ask about that story. George eventually got called away on a business matter, something about stock shortage in the back, but before he left he gave them a card to show the cashier to get them a discount if they wanted to buy anything. 

They kept wandering through the aisles, winding their way through until they stopped at a floor to ceiling display of intricately stacked tiny pink vials. The sign off to the side read clearly: **_LOVE POTIONS._ **

Luna smirked. “Have you figured out how these work yet?”

Cho gulped. “Nope,” she started. “I’m not nearly as good with potions as I am with charms.” She desperately hoped the tint on her cheeks didn’t match the one of the vials. 

“Ever used one?” Luna looked at her, almost as if she was gauging her reaction. She seemed intent on making sure Cho burst into flames in the middle of the floor.

“Have you?” Cho couldn’t tell if it was the reflection of the pink glass or Luna’s face growing brighter. Either way neither of them answered the question. 

They ended up leaving the store shortly after, with Luna purchasing some Extendable Ears because she said they were perfect for listening to animal calls without getting too close. Then they were back on the streets of Diagon Alley continuing on with their tour.

Luna of course wanted to stop by the pet store, where they spent almost an hour making up names and personalities for all the critters there, with Luna occasionally stopping to rant about their habitat set ups. Cho tried to dampen her nerves every time she watched Luna’s eyes light up with passion. Eventually, they have to leave when Luna started coming up with a plan to steal and rehome them all.

Their adventures took them through store after store, and they eventually wound up sitting outside Florean Fortescue’s for ice cream before heading back home. Out of all the other locations, the ice cream shop was probably the only place that hadn’t changed since their Hogwarts days. Other people wove around them on the sidewalk in the late afternoon sun as they each tackled their respective flavors; Cho’s mint chocolate chip, and Luna’s strawberry.

“Hey, I had a lot of fun today.” 

Luna’s voice was soft as she swirled some more ice cream up on her spoon. Her hair was frazzled from the heat, but the way it caught the light was almost blinding, the sun making it look like she was on fire. Cho’s heart stuttered.

“I’m really glad.” She wanted to say more. She could say more and then all this wondering would be over and done with, but she faltered in the public setting. She felt too exposed to make any such bold declarations. 

“I’ve really missed you, you know?” Luna wouldn’t look up from her ice cream, only adding to the sincerity of her words. Cho’s breath caught in her throat.

“I’ve missed you too.” The statement hung between them. It felt like a different kind of confession. Cho suddenly remembered their earlier discussion of Luna’s work and how close it was to being finished. Her heart burned with the need to know where Luna was going once all this was over. If they got to keep each other a little longer or if they’d be back to just missing each other once the week was out. 

“Luna -” she started.

Luna looked up, her eyes hopeful. Cho cleared her throat.

“When you’re done with your job at the Ministry, do you know -”

Her words were cut short as an owl screech sounded above them. A snowy white Ministry owl landed on the table between them, Cho’s unfinished question already forgotten. It stepped towards Luna and she untied the scroll of parchment tied to it’s leg. 

She read the contents quickly, before looking back up at Cho. “The Magizoologists that are helping me have arrived. We should be able to re-nest them tomorrow.” Luna looked up her eyes bright and her smile wide, as she met Cho’s apprehensive eyes. “Oh, sorry, what were you saying?” 

Cho smiled, “I don’t even remember anymore.”

They finished their desserts and then started the walk home. It was getting darker now and their footsteps echoed off the cobblestones as they walked down the emptying streets. 

“Do you think you’ll finish, then? Tomorrow?” Cho asked, hoping her intentions were louder than her words. 

“I expect so. It shouldn’t really take long once we get going. They’ve really taken a liking to me, I’m almost sad to see them go.”

Cho laughed. Only Luna could be sad at getting rid of pests. “Well, I’m sure Hermione will be thankful they’re gone.”

“Oh for sure.” 

The conversation halted at the doorstop, as Cho began to put her key in. But then she stopped herself, feeling suddenly bold, and turned to pull Luna into a quick but tight hug. She could feel the other girl’s shock beneath her arms before Luna sunk into it and wrapped her own arms around Cho’s waist. Before it became too much, Cho broke them apart.

“What was that for?”

“I’ve just really liked having you here, is all,” Cho said, and busied herself with unlocking the door to hide her darkened face before they stepped into the apartment. Soon they were inside, getting ready for bed and saying goodnight, and Cho found herself alone in her room, heart racing and unable to go to sleep. 

***

Luna had already gone to the Ministry by the time Cho awoke. She had slept later than she intended to after not being able to fall asleep the previous night. But it was all for the better because she had decided something. She was going to tell her, and she was going to do it today. 

Getting out of bed, Cho felt lighter than she had in awhile. She hadn’t realized how heavy it was to push those feelings down all the time. She was still nervous, of course. But it was less a generalized feeling of anxiety, and more just nervousness because she knew change was coming and could predict its trajectory. It was a happy kind of nervous. Like the feeling before a Quidditch game, standing under the bleachers and feeling the crowd wake up above you. Her morning went by almost like she was in a trance, as she contemplated how to say it.

She stood at the stove cooking eggs for breakfast. _Luna, I really like you._

She ate her eggs she had burnt in her distraction at the kitchen counter. _I have feelings for you._

She sat at the bookstore register waiting for customers to come in. _Sometimes, I think you like me back._

She flipped the sign to open and unlocked the door once she realized why no customers had come in. _If you’re running back to China will you please take me with you_? Eventually the roar of her thoughts dulled as the bookstore started to fill up. She had customers to attend to, books to reshelve, displays to set up, and orders to check on. There was definitely enough to keep her busy, and after a few hours she was thankful, because it felt like her stomach was going to burst with the knots it kept tying itself into. 

She thought Luna might come in for lunch, and she could do it then, and then it would be over and she wouldn’t feel like her nerves were on fire. But she didn’t. _It’s a busy day for her, finishing up and all,_ Cho thought, _you don’t need to be bothering her._ Like her thoughts could possibly be an inconvenience to Luna. 

But closing time came and went and there was still no sign of the other girl. 

Cho tried not to feel disappointed. After all, she had no idea how long it took to re-nest pixies. Luna was busy that was all. 

She tried not to worry as she made dinner.

She tried not to worry as she ate dinner.

She tried not to worry as she put on pajamas and brushed her teeth.

She started to worry when she was sitting on the couch, watching her third episode of a Muggle tv show and looking at the clock approximately every thirty seconds. 

It was nearly one in the morning now, and there had still been no sign of Luna. _It’s probably nothing,_ Cho thought. _Hermione probably took her out to drinks or something to celebrate getting rid of them._ But she couldn’t bring herself to go to bed. She knew if she went to bed, without saying something, she’d have chickened out by the time she woke up and nothing would ever happen. 

She didn’t normally stay up this late and suddenly found herself wondering if it would look weird that was waiting up for Luna. She could always pass it off as wanting to see if Luna had been successful, but Luna would know her true intentions soon enough, so she guessed it didn’t matter. Still, the unusually late hour was getting to her.

Cho got up and made herself a cup of coffee, ready to settle back into the couch and pretend that she cared whether or not Rachel took Ross back. But the hours and the episodes ticked by and it only made her worry more. What if Luna had gotten hurt? What if something terrible had happened? What if that hug had freaked her out and she’d left already?

Cho got up and padded down the hall, slipping open the door of the guest room, her breathing only calming when she saw Luna’s suitcase still propped up against the dresser. She let out a breath. _You’re being irrational. Go make another cup of coffee and calm down._

Eventually, no cup of coffee was strong enough to wield off her exhaustion and she slipped into a shallow, fitful sleep. 

A shout from the TV woke her a little later, minutes or hours, she couldn’t tell. She sat up suddenly, but the apartment was still eerily quiet, still noticeably empty. The sky was lightening now, and the clock on the wall read five-thirteen. She couldn’t hold back her panic any longer. Something was wrong. 

Launching herself off the couch, Cho stumbled through her dark apartment to her bedroom, too rushed to even turn on the lights. She crammed her feet into shoes, grabbed her broom off the wall and made her way back to the front door. When she stepped into the kitchen, she flicked the lights on just as the front door opened. 

Luna stood on the other side of the door frame looking like standing was all she could manage right then. Her hair was wild, looking like tiny hands had been tugging it in all directions, and her eyes were puffy. She managed a weak smile, before stepping through the threshold, dropping her bag next to the door.

Cho’s confession burned up in her throat as her broom clattered to the floor. “Merlin’s tits, what’s wrong?”


	8. Chapter 8

It felt like several days later when Luna awoke like she always did: tired and completely unaware of where she was. She took in the unfamiliar wallpaper, and the soft movements she could hear in the kitchen, some kind of tapping along with humming that grounded her to her surroundings. Recognition settled on her brain. She was at Cho’s. 

She groaned a little at the effort of turning over to check the clock, her head throbbing from the fact that she only went to sleep four hours ago. She had gotten home late last night, almost five in the morning, because the pixies she had successfully transferred to a nice wooded area right outside of London had come back. The team that had been helping her were super friendly and had done their jobs well, but Hermione had frantically chased her down as she was leaving at around six in the evening to tell her that the colony she’d spent all day dismantling had re-nested in a matter of minutes. Luna had thought she was joking at first, remembering Hermione’s perpetually sarcastic demeanor from school that more often than not went over her own head. When she went back to check, sure enough, the room had been completely torn to shreds again. 

Hermione looked close to tears, and Luna had almost cried of exhaustion, staring at the room she had spent so long putting back together. “I can figure this out,” she had told Hermione, lying through her teeth to spare her some worry. “I can figure this out. Just give me a few more days.”

She had stayed until five in the morning, observing, sketching, making notes, trying to get as close as she could without them tearing her hair out. And after her years spent studying them, she couldn’t deny the things that she had brushed off the first time.

First off, based on her sketches alone, these were different pixies. Of course, they were all tiny and blue and looked very similar, but they had markings just like other animals that if you knew how to observe them, make them stand out from each other. But she could have come to that conclusion based on the fact that none of them seemed to recognize her, despite the fact that she had spent all week getting to know them on a level where they were comfortable enough to let her touch them. 

That was her first indication that things were wrong. Pixies didn’t like to nest in areas that had already been nested before. They never wanted to perform for an audience that had seen tricks from another troupe. The _only_ time she had ever seen pixies use an abandoned nest is when they were forcibly relocated and the relocators didn’t do enough research on their target area. And that time didn’t end well.

Second, they were exhibiting hostile behavior. Using files to make turrets. Taking time to aim their projectiles. Forgoing taunts for screams, aiming to make themselves louder, bigger, more formidable. It was behavior she recognized from the first group before they had warmed up to her. 

It almost felt like deja vu. Same situation. Same room. Same tactic. Different animals. 

Around five, she was dead on her feet. She didn’t know how to communicate with them anymore beyond chanting over and over, “I am not here to hurt you.” She figured they would probably both be more amicable the next day. And so she had put up defensive spells around the room to try and prevent further damage, and she had made her way tiredly back to Cho’s place. 

Cho, beautiful, driven Cho had of course already been awake, presumably about to leave for her morning broom ride around London, like she had done at five thirty every morning Luna had been there. But she had taken one look at Luna and put her broom immediately down. “Merlin’s tits, what’s wrong?”

“They came back.” 

Luna had been planning on saying that, complaining a bit, and then falling right the fuck to sleep, but she couldn’t stop spinning the information around in her head. So Cho had magicked up some coffee for her, cleared the kitchen table and helped her spread out her notes. 

They had gone over them for hours, Luna explaining her sketches, how this group of pixies was a whole different group, how some of them showed defensive wounds, at least from the little she could see as they zipped around. She’d explained how their hostile behavior was different than what you see from normal pixies around their nest. 

“That’s where they’re most comfortable. If you find pixies around their nest, they’re usually playful, and mischievous. They have home field advantage and they know it. Their moves are calculated and really really clever.” Luna had rambled, trying not to recite her entire thesis. But Cho didn’t look bored at all. And true to her Ravenclaw self, she did more than just let Luna talk.

“Do you remember Lockhart’s class?” Cho had blurted, in the middle of one of Luna’s sentences. Which was probably for the best, because she was starting to ramble again. 

“Of course, I’m not sure how I could forget any of those.”

“Well what you’re describing sounds a lot like those pixies.”

Luna had taken a second to connect the dots. “Those pixies… ok, forcibly removed from their home, held in a cage, let loose in an unfamiliar area… You think someone’s putting them there?”

“I mean, why else would they reinhabit the nest so quickly?”

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” Luna had said, making Cho beam. “Actually do you have any more books on pixie migration?”

“Probably.”

They raced each other down to the closed, darkened bookshop below them, giggling deliriously, both from the revelation and the early morning hour. For a second Luna had been transported back to school, to sneaking into the library with her in the middle of the night, just to look up one single fact that they had to know right then. 

But then Cho’d flipped on the light and she was back in the present. 

They’d pulled down a book on migration and Luna had skimmed it fervently. “There’s almost never cases of pixie nesting this far into the city,” she’d said. “Ugh that’s something I should have remembered. They like close proximity to wooded areas, something the Ministry definitely doesn’t have.”

“Well you can’t keep all the knowledge in the world locked up here,” Cho had said, tapping her forefinger against Luna’s temple. “Some of it’s bound to go missing.” 

At Cho’s touch, Luna had forgotten what they were talking about.

Seconds ticked by.

“Well,” Cho had asked eagerly. “Is that enough for you to prove that someone is putting them there?”

“I think so.” Luna had said, hesitantly. “I think this just turned into a crime.” 

“What do we do now, then?” Cho had asked, eyes wide and searching Luna’s face for an answer. Luna had breathed deeply for a second. The exhaustion had begun settling into her bones, dragging her down into the matted carpet of the bookstore. She’d swayed a little bit then. 

“We have to tell Hermione.”

“Woah,” Cho’d put her palms flat on the fronts of Luna’s shoulders, pushing her gently upright. “When’s the last time you slept?”

Luna could feel Cho’s hands burning through her shirt. It had been hours, and right now, so close to Cho she could smell the shampoo in her hair, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Cho’s waist, collapse into something soft and sleep for days. To do something that felt anything at all like that hug last night. “I don’t remember,” she said. 

“Then I think maybe our next step should be a nap.”

Luna had protested weakly at first, knowing that Hermione would want to be informed immediately, but Cho had pointed out that she didn’t exactly have to say how long she had known of the security breach when she told Hermione about it. Cho also looked tired, although she shouldn’t have been given that she was such an early riser. Luna thought that maybe she needed a nap too. 

And that was how Luna found herself slightly more rested, and more than a little disoriented, sitting back up in the spare room once more. Her eyes widened as the sleep fog leaked out her ears, replaced instead by memories of what they had realized last night. She gasped.

“Hermione -” 

She launched herself out of bed, and stumbled frantically into the kitchen, surprising Cho who jumped, some rice flicking off the spatula she was using to cook. 

“Good morning. You weren’t asleep for very -”

“We have to go to the Ministry,” Luna croaked, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat, realizing she must have slept with her mouth open. “We need to tell Hermione.”

“Did you maybe want to change out of pajamas first?” Cho asked, smiling and gesturing with her spatula to what Luna was wearing. 

Luna blushed, looking down at her socked feet, and Wrackspurt-embroidered pajama pants. “Oh. Oh, yeah, that might be a good idea.”

She changed, and ate lunch at Cho’s instructions before the left, but soon they were walking side by side down the streets of Diagon Alley. Luna tried to calm the fluttering of her heart every time Cho’s wrist brushed against her own. 

“Who do you think is doing this?”

“I mean they’re targeting the file room, so I’m assuming they’re trying to keep something off the record.”

“Wouldn’t a bribe just be easier?”

“Not every Ministry employee is corrupt, Cho.” Luna turned her head, watching her friends cheeks darken slightly as her name rolled off Luna’s tongue. 

They continued bouncing theories off each other as they walked until they were standing in the lobby of the ministry, surrounded by traffic currents of hurried, tired looking wizards in Ministry robes. 

“Do you know where her office is?” Cho asked.

“Yeah but I don’t think it matters,” Luna said. Hermione, her hair undone and a frazzled expression plastered on her face, was making her way towards them through the crowd, throwing an elbow into anyone who got in her way. 

“Please tell me you have good news for me,” she said as soon as she was in earshot, the desperation audible in the way her voice bounced off the tile. “Oh hi Cho,” she said as an afterthought as she noticed the other girl.

“We… might?” Luna muttered, not really sure what her news would qualify as.

“We at least think we found the root of your problem,” Cho said, nudging Luna’s shoulder in support, allowing her to break the news.

“It’s not an infestation. We think someone is putting them there.” 

Hermione’s expression went blank, but the wheels clicking in her head were still visible through the whites of her eyes. She grabbed Luna’s elbow and steered her into a room that broke off of the lobby, Cho trailing closely behind. When they were alone, with the door shut and locked, she spoke.

“That’s a major security breach.”

“We know.”

“And you have proof of this?”

“I mean… I don’t have evidence,” Luna started, suddenly unsure of her accusation. “But -”

“She’s right, I’m sure of it,” Cho said. Hermione raised an eyebrow, her gaze now turned to Cho. “She’s spent years researching these things, and all that research is telling her that they don’t want to be in your file room as much as you don’t want them there. It’s the only explanation.”

Luna, bolstered by Cho’s faith in her, offered a few more supporting points until the room fell silent again. 

“Well how, pray tell, are we supposed to catch them?” Hermione asked finally.

Luna and Cho glanced at each other. They hadn’t exactly gotten that far. 

“Do you think if you relocated this batch as well, they would come back?” Hermione asked, her arms crossed.

“It’s possible.”

“Well, if we do that, maybe we can surveill the room, and try and catch them in the act.”

“How long would it take you to relocate this group?” Cho asked, her hand on Luna’s arm. 

“Maybe a few hours. Less if I had help.” She met Cho’s gaze. Cho smiled.

“Let me help her,” Cho said, turning to Hermione. “We’ll get them out and then we can stake out the room tonight. You’ll have a criminal in your hands by tomorrow morning.”

Hermione looked hesitant. “I can stake out the room with you -”

“No need.” Cho answered quickly, her hand tightening almost imperceptibly around Luna’s arm. “You probably have enough on your plate. Besides we can handle it.”

Hermione relented, clearly busy beyond belief, and agreed to check in on them in a few hours to see how it was going. She left, her robes swishing out of the door just before it shut. 

Alone again, Cho grinned up at Luna, her eyes alight. “Let’s go catch a criminal.”


	9. Chapter 9

Walking down the hallway towards the room in question it was quiet, which Cho guessed was a good thing. She didn’t know what to expect, with her last magical creatures lesson being years in the past, so she drew closer to Luna as they walked. If anyone asked, she would blame it on fear and nerves, but she knew better. It felt inexplicably good to be storming down that hallway together, as a team. 

Luna held an arm up across her chest as they drew just short of the door. Cho still couldn’t hear anything, but Luna reached into her pocket and dug out an Extendable Ear, one of the ones they had purchased a few days earlier. 

“I’m pretty sure they’re sleeping, but it’s best to be safe.” Luna slipped the Ear under the door, listening to the other end for a few seconds. She seemed to get the answer she was looking for, quickly retracting the Ear and putting a hand on the door handle. 

“Wait!” Cho squeaked. Her nerves felt on fire. It felt like they were sneaking around Hogwarts after hours again, even though they had explicit permission from the Minister’s assistant to be doing this. Luna cringed at her exclamation, an ear pressed to the door to make sure the pixies were still quiet. Cho lowered her voice. “What’s the plan?”

Luna smacked a palm to her forehead. “I keep forgetting this isn’t normal for you.” Her hand came off the door handle. “We basically just have to get them out of here. The team I worked with yesterday shouldn’t have left yet, and they can take them with them, wherever they’re going.”

She went over a couple spells that were good for capturing them, taking a lot of time to detail spells that shouldn’t be used, so nobody got injured. Cho didn’t recognize a few of the capturing spells she listed, and her chest grew warm when she realized Luna must have invented them. 

And then the door was opening, and she was pressed up against Luna’s back as they entered the darkened room together

It looked normal enough at first, a high ceiling filled with a labyrinth of file cabinets and stacks of paper. There was a metal door on the wall next to them, where every so often a file would shoot through, and then, Cho assumed under normal circumstances, the file would zip off to its correct place among the shelves. Now, however, Luna had put up a shield spell at the entrance of the door, where the files were bumping uselessly against it, trying to get through. When Luna saw her looking, she simply said, “they were ripping them up to make hats.”

They advanced a little further into the room. Luna pointed out the nest, or rather the network they were living in. Cho had to crane her neck upwards to see it. From where she was standing, she could see several tiny blue bodies darting in and out of the dollhouse sized castle they seemed to have built out of years worth of important ministry documents. 

“I bet Hermione is not a fan of this…” she mumbled, but Luna shushed her, laser focused into the plan she was devising in her head.

Cho had to admit it was cool seeing her like this, tense and brilliant and _alive._ You could tell just from her posture that she loved doing this with every fiber of her being. Her shoulders were down and back, her legs planted in a stance that could have been for running or fighting, Cho didn’t know. She looked how it felt the second before a spell was cast. Electric. Decisive. _Beautiful._

“Ok, I need you to listen really carefully.” Luna turned back to her, her eyes wide. Cho’s breath hitched.

“Uh huh.”

“If you can distract them from this side, I can probably climb up the back end and immobilize their colony. Then all we have to do is float them down and wait for the others to get here.”

“You think that’s all it will take?”

Luna laughed a little at her naivety. “Just because it’s simple to explain doesn’t mean it’s simple to do.” She began to walk Cho through it in a little more detail. 

“Ok as soon as I’m behind this shelf, you’re going to have to alert them to your presence. Say hello, cough, trip, whatever.”

“Ok,” Cho nodded dutifully.

“Once they notice you, they’re gonna come check you out, so you have to convince them you’re not a threat.”

“Yeah, and how do I do that?” 

“They’re creatures of chaos, so they’re gonna mess with you a little bit. All you have to do is laugh.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” Luna smiled like it should have been obvious. “They like to perform. If you give them a good audience, they’re gonna like you immediately.”

“Ok, I guess I can do that.” They were still speaking quietly, because the pixies had started to notice them now. The buzzing of their wings reached Cho and Luna’s ears as they started to realize they were being watched. 

“You’ve just gotta keep them from realizing what I’m doing.”

“Ok,” Cho released a nervous breath. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Luna started to slip behind the shelf where they were nested and Cho noticed a few blue heads turn in Luna’s direction as she went. _Whoops,_ she thought, _that’s my job._

“Hey guys!” She cleared her throat and tried to speak in a way that didn’t betray how nervous she was. But it worked, the tiny blue heads all snapping towards her direction, dozens of beady eyes all locked in on her face. “Um, how are you guys doing?”

She cringed at how stupid she sounded, but it seemed to work, as several pixies left the nest and flew directly at her. She could feel a few tugging at her hair, and was wondering if she should be laughing at that when one drew up short, hovering just in front of her face.

The pixie tugged its ears away from its face and stuck its tongue out, blowing a raspberry at her. Its tiny sharp teeth gleamed on either side of its tongue.

Cho didn’t even have to try with that one. She let out a chuckle that turned into an actual laugh after a second, the whole situation was just so ridiculous. The pixie was staring at her, slack jawed. “That was a classic one, buddy.”

She felt the pixies around her head drop the strands of hair they had presumably been tying into knots. Soon they were hovering in front of her too, all trying to outdo each other to pull the most ridiculous face. 

She kept laughing, trying not to let her eyes drift over to where Luna was now scaling the stacks of paper, forcing herself to laugh louder and harder when Luna almost slipped, so her fear would register as mirth. 

They seemed to like when she complimented them on their form, or the ability to make the most grotesque looking faces, so she kept doing that. Soon she had almost fifteen pixies surrounding her, nestled into her shoulders under her hair, and sitting along her arms as she just talked quietly to them, going around giving each of them little compliments to watch their tiny blue faces light up.

“If I had known you were going to be this good at it, I would have asked for your help the first time.” Luna spoke, making Cho jump a little, and startling a few of the pixies off her arms. 

“I was just following your lead.” Cho smiled. It was hard to tell if it was blush rising to Luna’s cheeks or just the exertion of climbing seven feet above the floor to dismantle a pixie nest. 

They ended up not having to immobilize any of them, both of them content to sit and entertain them until the rehousing team showed up. They were kind, just like Luna had said, but she hadn’t mentioned the way each of them seemed in awe of her. 

Cho watched them interact with her, each of them immediately changing their course of action whenever Luna gave a command or made a suggestion. She noticed how they each seemed to beam if she gave them a compliment, or an encouraging smile. Cho was starting to realize that Luna was more than just noted in her field of study, but revered.

Soon the pixies were completely and comfortable packed up, nestled on the back of a broomstick as the Magizoologists took off from the Ministry roof. The sun had begun to set as Cho and Luna made their way back to the file room. 

When they got back, Luna magicked the lights off, something about making sure the room looked empty. Cho suddenly realized how quiet it was with just the two of them there, stacks of files looming over their head. She turned around, watching Luna sink to the floor, her back pressed up against a filing cabinet, and realized how tired she must be. She remembered from school that leadership definitely suited Luna, but it never seemed to come naturally. She was such a solitary person most of the time that it exhausted her to be in charge, even if she was good at it. 

Cho sank down to the floor next to her. “Hey if you want to take a nap, I can take watch by myself.” Her heart fluttered when Luna’s eyes met hers, illuminated only by the fading light drifting through the window. 

“That wouldn’t be fair though. I can stay up, I promise.”

“I mean you’ve always been queen of pulling all nighters.”

“I’m telling you, Charms homework is just easier after two am.” 

Cho laughed, remembering how many times she watched Luna turn in Charms homework and then immediately fall asleep at the back of the class. Of course homework was only ever easier that late because you didn’t care so much about your answers, as long as they were, you know, answers. She supposed that applied to anything late at night. You got answers quicker, more honestly.

They sat quietly together for a long time. It was something that had always come natural in their friendship, even back at school. They used to sit together on Luna’s bed, while Cho read and Luna drew. They’d sit out by the Great Lake together, leaned up against a tree, just looking at the water. They’d hole up together at the same table in the library, Cho writing an essay with Luna taking a nap beside her. 

Now, all those years later, they were sitting side by side with their backs pressed to a filing cabinet, and it felt like nothing had changed.

“You did really good today, by the way.” Luna said, messing with her fingernails. It was very late now, the room completely darkened except for the long tendrils of moonlight floating in through the window.

_It was only because of you,_ Cho wanted to say, _I’m always so much better when I’m with you._

But she didn’t. Instead she just said, “Thank you.”

Her stomach twisted. She wondered briefly, if it was unfair to tell Luna what she really wanted to tell her, in this situation. Talking about stuff like that late at night was like talking to someone who had just drunk Veritaserum. They gave you answers, but almost always regretted it in the morning.

But, Cho thought, the only reason she was brave enough to say it now, was because they were sitting under the cover of dark in the middle of the night. Existing together in that liminal space between dreams and real life. 

“Luna?” she started, and the other girl dropped her head on Cho’s shoulder, her eyes closed. Comfortable. 

“Mmm?” was Luna’s only response, the vibrations running through Cho’s arm and sending a tiny shiver up her spine. The dark that seconds before had been comforting, now felt like it was closing in on her. The shifting of papers above them seemed to be chanting, _say it say it say it._ Her tongue turned to lead. 

“Do you--” she faltered, “Do you ever wish you had been a Gryffindor?”

She felt Luna sit up beside her, her silver gaze turned to Cho’s face, but Cho kept looking forward, her body already missing the heavy warmth where Luna’s head had been. “No. Why would you ask that?”

Cho laughed nervously. Luna’s tone had been direct as always. “It’s just, sometimes I feel like it would be easier to be brave if everyone was already expecting me to be brave.”

Luna sat back against the filing cabinet so they sat shoulders pressed together and facing the same direction. “Hmm, I don’t know if that would be true.” Cho glanced over at her. “Did it ever feel easier to be smart, when everyone was expecting you to be smart all the time?”

Cho bit her lip. She had never once considered that expectations from other people had ever affected Luna. She had always seemed so far above it all. “I guess not.”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

_“Please,”_ Cho answered immediately. 

“I think everybody, from any house, is brave at some point in their life. You know? It’s just not always as obvious as fighting an evil magical fascist.”

Cho laughed. Luna continued.

“Sometimes I think being brave can just mean saying sorry for something you did. Or working on doing better next time.” Her voice faltered. “Or coming back after running away.” 

The last bit was quiet, only strong enough to pass the distance between them before it evaporated in the stuffy Ministry air. 

Cho looked up, their eyes meeting for a split second before Luna shifted her gaze to the floor. Even through the darkened room, Cho could see her cheeks were red. 

“Can I tell _you_ a secret?” she asked quietly. Luna nodded. “I’ve always thought you were brave.”

> Image Description: A digital drawing of Cho and Luna sitting very close to each other, facing the same direction, leaning against a set of filing cabinets in a dark room lit by moonlight from the window. Cho is wearing a blue cloak and looking right at Luna. Luna is wearing light blue and purple, holding her wand loosely, and looking away from Cho. Art by nosignofwings. End description.

Suddenly a noise sounded several rows down from them. It could have been anything, a file falling to the floor, the building settling, but they had to get up and check it. They stood up. 

It was quiet again, but this time the atmosphere felt ominous instead of empty. “Wait,” Cho held Luna’s wrist, tugging her back a little. “What if it’s a trap?”

“Seriously?”

“We don’t know who we’re dealing with here.” She tried to put on a braver face. _Anyone can be brave,_ she thought, _who cares if you’re a Ravenclaw?_ “Let me go check it out. You stay here.”

She let go of Luna’s wrist, and Luna let her disappear into the stacks without following. She walked through the stacks, her ears peeled to the point it was almost painful, until her foot hit something on the floor.

“ _Lumos._ ” The light barely reached the floor, but it illuminated several file folders that had fallen -- she looked up -- from a shelf close to the ceiling. Magical buildings had always been weird like that in her experience, but this felt intentional. It made her uneasy. 

She cast her light up and down the row, but it didn’t illuminate anything else. She put the files back in order, using _Wingardium Leviosa_ to fit them back into the shelf several feet above her head, then turned to head back. 

Even though nothing had happened, she felt braver for just volunteering to go alone. _If you can walk into a supposed ambush by yourself, you can tell Luna you like her,_ she thought. _And you will. As soon as you get back to her._ Her stomach twisted in knots, but she wouldn’t let herself agonize over it. She was ripping the bandaid off tonight. Lavender would be proud.

She was several feet from turning the corner back to the row they had been sitting in, when she heard a sickening thud, followed immediately by sprinting footsteps. Her blood froze.

“Luna!?” She sprinted the last couple feet, rounding the corner to see Luna’s frame crumpled on the floor, with just the corner of a robe disappearing behind the end of the row. “Shit, shit, shit.” All thoughts had left her brain as she skidded on her knees in front of the other girl, careful to avoid the mass of blonde hair splayed on the floor. She pressed her two forefingers under Luna’s chin, barely even registering that she was still breathing, as she sent up an alarm spell into the air. 

She sent another and another, watching them disappear through the ceiling and praying somebody was still awake to see them. 

Cho only started to breathe again when she heard footsteps thundering down the hall on the floor above her. 

Somebody was coming. Right?


	10. Chapter 10

Luna didn’t really remember waking up. She just knew that one second she was waiting for Cho to come back, and then the next, she was staring up at an obscenely bright light affixed to the ceiling. She whispered a charm and the light dimmed just a little, but the pain in her head didn’t go away. 

She wanted to sit up so she could look anywhere but directly into that light and start to figure out where she was, but when she shifted her weight forward to lift herself up, bringing tension into her stomach, her chest exploded in a flash of white hot pain. She dropped her shoulders back down from the half inch she had risen. 

Okay. New plan. 

It was hard to think through her headache, but she tried anyway. Shifting her eyes away from the ceiling, she could see only blank white walls. There were voices drifting around her too. She tried focusing on that.

“I’d like to go one year without some teenager making the news please,” one voice said. Luna tilted her head just slightly to bring the man into view. His uniform stirred recognition in the back of her mind and she realized she must be in St. Mungos. Two other nurses came into view, laughing at his previous statement, but they kept their backs to her. _They must not realize I’m awake yet,_ Luna thought groggily.

“You have to admit though, it’s getting noticeably less dramatic since Potter graduated.”

One of them scoffed. “Unbelievable that breaking into the Ministry of Magic is considered _less_ dramatic these days.” 

Luna was going to make a sound then, only to let them know she was awake, but as they continued she realized they were talking about her case. Maybe they didn’t need to know she was awake just yet. She sank further down into the hospital comforter, her eyes closed and her ears peeled.

“When I was fourteen, I could barely sneak out of my house without my mum catching me.” The taller nurse scoffed again. “Breaking in the Ministry to destroy files. Kids these days.”

“What could possibly put that idea in a fourteen-year-old’s head?”

“Apparently, he’d gotten charged with flying in sight of Muggles. Second offense.”

“So? It’s not like there’s Azkaban time for that.”

“They kick you off the school Quidditch team. Unsportsmanship behavior and all that.”

“Merlin’s tits, it’s just school Quidditch. Half the Ministry is seriously booby trapped. What if he’d gotten hurt? Or killed?” There was genuine worry in the nurse’s voice, as if he couldn’t believe someone could care that much about a sports game. Luna had to agree. She also had to lie there in disbelief as she grappled with the fact that she had been undoing the work of a fourteen-year-old for the last two weeks. 

She needed to find the kid. He had a lot to learn, but he could really have a future in Magizoology if he wanted.

“I bet he wished he’d gotten killed honestly. Did you see the press releases?”

“You know I don’t read the Prophet, that steaming garbage pile -”

“Well, apparently the reporters didn’t even bother with getting official statements. You could hear Granger yelling at him all the way down the street. They got the whole story from that alone.”

That image in Luna’s mind was just too much. It wasn’t the fact that Hermione had had to give a lecture that turned too loud too quickly (because that happened often enough), but because breaking in to the Ministry to destroy a file for her own personal gain was exactly the type of thing fourteen year old Hermione would have done. She just would have done it better. Luna felt sorry for the kid, even though he had Stunned the hell out of her. 

She didn’t realize she had been laughing out loud at that part until she cracked an eye to see three masked faces hovering over her. 

“You’re awake, then.” It was a statement more than a question, and the nurse didn’t wait for an answer before jumping in to a detailed list of her injuries. 

They helped her sit up, explaining her rib had been fractured in the fall, but the potion to heal it should be ready in about an hour. They’d already fixed up a few bumps and bruises on her arms and head, but of course the headache they’d just have to wait to disappear on its own. 

Headaches were a common side effect of getting hit with a Stunning spell, Luna knew, but she had never had one this bad before. 

“Yeah it might last a few days. It really depends on the strength of the spell, and you got hit with a big one.”

Luna chuckled, rubbing her temple. “By a fourteen year old?”

“It’s more the emotion behind it than the actual technique. Kid must have been terrified.”

“Trust me.” The nurses shared a look between themselves. “He’s been given quite the talking to.”

They kindly explained that she’d be ready for discharge as soon as her recovery potion finished brewing. 

“It’s a good thing too, because your girlfriend was likely to have an aneurism if you didn’t wake up soon.” With other patients to check up on, the nurses headed out, but they smiled at her as they closed the door. 

Luna smiled back before realizing what they’d said. 

_Wait._

_Did they say girlfriend?_

She barely had time to register that before her door swung straight back open. Her chest tightened, and this time it wasn’t because of the fractured rib.

Cho was standing in the doorway, her hair frazzled, her arms full of food, and her jaw nearly on the floor.

“You’re awake,” she squeaked, her voice cracking. Before Luna could say anything in return, Cho had flung everything she was holding onto an empty chair and crossed the distance between them. She slid her arms up under Luna’s, squeezing as tight as she could without breaking her rib any further. Her head nestled into the space between Luna’s neck and shoulder.

It was a few shocked seconds before Luna wrapped her own arms around Cho’s back, and it was only then, cued in by the gentle up and down motions, that she realized Cho was crying. 

“Cho?”

Cho sniffled and drew back, roughly wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she hiccuped. “It’s just - it was my fault for leaving you alone, and then you were out for a whole day and a half, and, and, and -” Her breath shuddered, catching behind her ribs and refusing to let the rest of the words out. 

“Oh my god, Cho, it’s ok.” Luna grabbed Cho’s shoulders, pulling her back down into another hug. “I’m ok, I promise.”

They stayed like that until Cho’s hiccups had subsided and she was averaging only a few sniffles a minute. When they broke apart again, her gaze dropped to the floor, her cheeks red. She smiled and she wiped a final tear. 

“Did you hear he was -”

“Fourteen? Yeah.” Luna met her eyes and the two of them dissolved into laughter. 

“We fought in the Great War,” Cho said between giggles, “and we got beat by a fourteen-year-old who doesn’t know how to not fly over a Tesco parking lot in the middle of the day.”

Luna had to clutch her ribs trying not to laugh. “I guess we aren’t the battle hardened soldiers we thought we were.”

Cho smiled. “I think I’m okay with that.”

Cho stood up from the edge of Luna’s hospital bed and walked over to where she had dropped her stuff earlier. She bent down to pick something up and Luna took a deep breath before she spoke.

“So, are you my girlfriend the nurses were telling me about?”

Cho straightened back up immediately, her shock apparent even from the back of her head. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide. 

“I -” she stammered. Luna waited. She wasn’t sure what she wanted the answer to be. “I’m so sorry,” Cho finally said. “It was the only way they would let me back here after hours.”

Luna’s chest deflated. It was just a means to an end. 

Cho gave her an embarrassed half smile. “In my defense, I didn’t think the nurses would tell you.”

The silence between them was electric, made only more intense by the fact that Luna wasn’t responding. But she was thinking, and her head still hurt, so she couldn’t do both at the same time.

She was thinking about all the meals Cho’d made her since she got to London, all the late nights she spent helping her research. She thought about the way Cho would leave her notes, and how Luna would respond with drawings. She thought about the day she’d gone in Cho’s room to ask to borrow a hair tie and seen the drawings stacked up on her desk. Saved. And now, she looked at Cho standing in front of her, holding a box of pastries that she knew Luna loved, probably made intentionally to make her feel better, and it just all seemed so easy. They were basically girlfriends already.

And all of a sudden, Luna felt as if she’d explode if she didn't at least ask. 

“Do you want to be?”

It takes a second before she realized Cho had spoken at the same time, her words getting tangled up with Luna’s before breaking through and reaching her ears. 

“I like you,” Cho said.

They stayed frozen, both holding matching confessions with wide eyes and pink cheeks. 

“What?” Cho’s jaw dropped again

“Did you want to be?” Luna stammered, “My girlfriend?”

“Yes!” Cho’s reply was breathy, her face still the paramount of shock. She put down the box she was holding, and made to sit on the edge of Luna’s bed again.

“Wait, no I wanted one of those,” Luna said, pointing at the abandoned pastry box. Cho laughed, grabbing one to hand to her before she sat down. 

Luna took it and bit off a piece. “I like you too, by the way. Since Hogwarts.” 

That took Cho by surprise too, her expression confused. “But you left?”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Luna sighed and dropped her arms to her lap. “I didn’t really know who I was without all that nonsense. Without school, and the war, and stuff. I didn’t know if anybody would want me around now that I wasn’t serving some sort of purpose.”

“What?” Cho’s expression grew gentle. 

“I’m stupid, I know.”

Cho leaned forward, her chin tilted up. “No, you’re not. But you didn’t give anyone much of a chance to prove you wrong. Especially me.” The hand that wasn’t propping her up found the ends of Luna’s hair, twirling a strand in her fingers. “You don’t have to serve any kind of purpose for me to want you around.” Cho looked up to meet Luna’s eyes, and Luna felt herself getting lost in them. “You know that right?”

“I’m starting to learn.”

Cho groaned, scrunching up her nose. “I can’t believe it took me this long to say anything. We could have done this a long time ago.” She looked back up. “I wrote you a bunch of letters. Some saying a lot -” she cleared her throat, “... _more_ than others. I was just too scared to send them.”

It was Luna’s turn to look surprised. “Well time turner regulations are stricter than ever these days. Something about thirteen year olds letting wanted prisoners go.” Cho laughed.

“I guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time,” Luna said. The flirtiness of her words felt unnatural. This was new to her. But Cho’s reaction made it worth it, her face covered in a blush that reached her ears. 

“Hey, how bad is your headache?” Cho’s voice was low, almost secretive.

“It’s not as terrible anymore. The nurses said it should go away soon.” Luna smiled. “Why?”

“Because,” Cho said, leaning forward just a tiny bit more, her arms raised so her hands could cup either side of Luna’s chin. Her eyelids dropped half down as she looked up at Luna through dark eyelashes. “I really, really want to do this.”

The gap between them closed, as Cho tilted her chin up to press their lips together. Luna’s eyes widened in shock, before she closed them, her shoulders sinking and her chin settling comfortably into Cho’s hands.

It was quick, and Cho pulled away first, her hands hesitantly leaving Luna’s face. But Luna pressed Cho’s hand right back into her cheek, leaning forward. She ignored the pain in her side as she tilted her head to fit their faces back together, Cho’s nose pressed up against her cheek. The kiss was deeper this time. More fervent. 

Cho moved her hand under Luna’s chin to tilt her face up just slightly, drawing a gasp from deep inside her. Her lips parted, and Cho took the invitation to slip in her tongue, sighing when Luna wrapped her arms around Cho’s waist and pulled her hips forward. Luna scraped her teeth lightly along the edge of Cho’s bottom lip and -

“Ahem.”

The both of them sprang back, bright red in the face. Luna brought a hand absentmindedly up to her lips. 

“Well, you don’t look too injured so I supposed that’s a good thing,” Hermione said sarcastically as she stepped into the room. She smiled at Cho’s embarrassed expression. “I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Luna, you gave us quite a scare.”

“Thank you,” Luna said, trying to will Hermione back out the door. 

“I just wanted to let you know that the problem you were working on is all taken care of.” Hermione handed over a small bag clinking with what Luna assumed were coins. “The Ministry thanks you. We’ve also taken care of your hospital bill.”

“Oh.” Luna accepted the bag. “You didn’t have to do that.” Hermione brushed her off with a statement of how since she was injured on the job it was more to cover their asses than anything else.

“Well I’ve got to head back to work, and you guys look,” Hermione paused, giving them both a meaningful glance, “...busy. It was nice to see you again Luna.” And with that, her sensible heels clicked all the way out of the room, leaving them alone once more. 

Cho picked up the bag Hermione had given Luna and hefted it in her palms a few times. “This seems like a hefty pay -” 

Luna cut her off with another kiss, some part in the back of her mind still screaming that she could just _do_ this now. She could feel Cho smile into her mouth before she pulled back for just a second. 

“You sure you’re ok? I don’t want to hurt your head -” Cho started, even though it looked like pulling back from the kiss had taken everything in her. 

Luna brushed a stray strand of hair behind Cho’s ear. “Trust me, I feel better already.”


	11. Chapter 11

Cho woke up a few days later to the same bedroom but a whole different world. A week ago she would have sprung out of bed as soon as she woke up, ready to eat breakfast, go flying, and start her daily routine. Today however, with the soft morning light warming her face and Luna’s arm draped over her stomach, she was content with lying there a few more minutes. 

It was the same way she had woken up for three mornings now, and she still wasn’t quite used to it. 

Luna had finished her assignment with the Ministry and was more or less completely healed, but she had made no move to leave Cho’s apartment yet, and Cho wasn’t complaining. Her mind drifted back to the previous night. Okay, yeah, she _really_ wasn’t complaining. 

But the fact remained that Luna had to leave sometime, and they still hadn’t talked about it. Granted it had only been a couple of days and they weren’t the best communicators, but they were trying. 

Cho slipped Luna’s arm off her stomach and slipped out of bed. 

“Wh-hey,” Luna mumbled groggily, the movement rousing her. “Where are you going?”

Cho lifted Luna’s face up and kissed her on the mouth, slowly. “Just to the kitchen to get coffee. You want some?”

“Mm...” Luna moaned, pressing her face into Cho’s pillow. A muffled response came out seconds later. “Yes please.”

When Cho returned a few minutes later, two cups of coffee in hand, Luna was sitting up. She brushed her tangled hair out of her face and smiled, accepting the cup that Cho offered. “Any plans for the day?” she asked after the first sip. 

Cho cleared her throat. “I have to open up the shop in a little bit but, uh -” she took a preparatory sip, “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?” 

“Yeah, I -” 

Cho hesitated, setting her coffee cup down on her bedside table before fiddling with her hands in her lap. “I guess I’m just kind of wondering where this is going?”

“Oh.” Luna set her cup of coffee down as well.

“Yeah.”

“Ok,” Luna said carefully. “Are you asking if I’m leaving soon because of my research?”

“Yeah,” Cho said. “I know your work is really important to you, and I know that you don’t always know where you’ll end up because of it, so I was just wondering how you saw this playing out.”

Luna smiled, her nose crinkling up. She laughed, a little nervous. “That’s a fair question. We could do long distance? Or I could visit in between trips, or -”

“Can I say something that’s probably dumb?”

“Ok?”

“And you can say no if this is too much too soon, or if you don’t want to, or -”

“Are you going to actually say it?” Luna interrupted Cho’s rambling with a lighthearted smile. 

“Okay -” Cho bit her lip. “What if… I came with you?”

“Really?” Luna’s eyes widened in shock.

“I would help, I promise,” Cho said. “I wouldn’t just be freeloading.” 

“But what about the bookstore?” Luna asked.

“Believe it or not, being a bookstore clerk for the rest of my life doesn’t quite excite me as much as this does. I can hire somebody else,” Cho said. “And besides, maybe I could do some research on my own. You can do spell research anywhere, and I’ve always wanted to write a book on spell modification.”

Luna sat there, her expression shocked, a little confused. Cho didn’t know how to read it. 

“But if that’s too much, I understand -”

“No,” Luna grabbed her hands, her eyes beaming. “I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time believing you’d actually _want_ to come with me. It’s not very glamorous, you know?”

“I know. I still want to.”

“Ok, then yes! Please come with me.” Luna pulled Cho into a kiss, pulling them backwards onto the bed. 

The morning passed slowly, and soon the coffee cups were cold on the dresser, and the bookstore remained unopened. 

***

Cho walked down the streets of Diagon Alley, for once in no rush to get back to work. Mostly because she didn’t have work to go to anymore. The girl she had hired was sweet and decent at the job. Of course, it was hard to be bad at restocking shelves and ringing up customers. 

Her to-do list today consisted of finishing packing (which she had done in the morning), putting a self-watering spell on her houseplants (which she would do tonight), and saying goodbye to her friends (which she was doing now). Her heels clicked to a stop in front of her friends’ tea shop. 

The lobby was empty when she stepped in, and only then did Cho register the ‘Closed’ sign on the door. 

“Hey, why aren’t you guys open?” Cho called out into the empty room. It was a weekday, right? Days kind of blended together when all you did was pack and make out with your girlfriend. 

“We’re in the kitchen!” Parvati’s voice floated out from a couple rooms over. 

Cho made her way over. “Hey guys I -”

She was stopped short by the sight of her friends standing in the middle of the kitchen under a hand-painted ‘Goodbye’ sign hanging from the ceiling. Lavender was holding an intricately wrapped gift, and Parvati was holding back tears. 

“Oh my god, you guys,” Cho said, fighting the stinging of her own eyes.

“We just didn’t want any distractions while we were saying goodbye.” Lavender said, putting the gift down and wrapping Cho into a hug. Cho felt Parvati’s arms join Lavender’s a few seconds later. 

“We’re just going to miss you so much,” Parvati’s wavery voice said from the middle of their group hug. 

Breaking apart, Lavender gently pushed the present into Cho’s hands. “It’s just a bunch of tea blends. Tea from other places is always hit or miss. Also it’s so you won’t forget us.”

“Lavender!” Cho said, playfully swatting at her arm. “I’m not going to forget you guys.”

Their little farewell party was sweet, but short, since Cho had other things to attend to before she and Luna left the next day, but she made sure to give them very long hugs before leaving for a final time. 

“I’m not leaving forever, I’ll be back soon enough,” she said as she waved. “And Lav…”

“Yeah?” her friend answered, her arms slung around her girlfriend’s waist.

“Thank you for the advice.”

Cho’s walk back was bittersweet, her eyes still stinging at the thought of not being able to see her friends every week. But her chest was full of excitement, butterflies bouncing off her ribs like pixies in a cage. She felt like her life was just starting. Like this new adventure she was about to embark on was the start of something... _epic._

Luna’s words rung in her ears. _‘It’s not very glamorous, you know.’_ Cho laughed. Luna was right about a lot of things, but she was wrong about this. 

It would be glamorous. Because they’d be doing it together.


End file.
